Watch the short film

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About the screening

Please join the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security for the premiere screening of Source Code, a short film by Mark Kiefer depicting the interface of human and machine at war in 2065. The event features keynote remarks by futurist August Cole, author of Burn-In and Ghost Fleet, and concludes with a panel discussion among Kiefer; author Jamie Metzl, from whose story, “A Visit to Weizenbaum,” the film was adapted; and Tess deBlanc-Knowles, director of research and analysis at the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence (NSCAI). This latest installment in Forward Defense’s Art of War project takes place on Wednesday, September 15, 2021 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET. To receive the Zoom link, please click the REGISTER button above.

Setting the scene

The year is 2065. Captain John Galatin’s loss of focus cost lives on a remote-controlled battlefield. He has been ordered to see the compound’s psychiatrist who will assess his continued fitness for duty. Both owe a report to the commander in an hour. Is Galatin broken? Why can’t the doctor understand his feelings? What will each tell the colonel? And what’s AI got to do with it?

AI in the future of war

AI is changing the relationship between humans and machines . . . raising important questions about what choices to delegate to intelligent machines, in what circumstances, and for what reasons. In the national security sphere, these questions will take on greater significance as AI is integrated into defense and intelligence systems.

– Final Report of the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence (March, 2021)

Source Code is an engaging film that animates these questions about AI and the future of war by its adaptation of Jamie Metzl’s short story, “A Visit to Weizenbaum.” True to the enduring mission of the Art of War project, the film expands the discussion from technology alone to the role of humans in the future of war and to how they may find synergy with artificially intelligent machines.

A panel of experts

Surrounding our presentation of the film with be remarks and discussion that expertly frame and analyze the topic.

Hosted by

Clementine Starling

Deputy Director, Forward Defense, Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, Atlantic Council

Keynote remarks on useful fiction by

August Cole

Nonresident Senior Fellow, Forward Defense, Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, Atlantic Council;
Author, Burn-In

A panel comprising

Mark Kiefer

Writer, Director, and Producer, Mark Kiefer Creative;
Director, Source Code

Jamie Metzl

Nonresident Senior Fellow, Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, Atlantic Council;
Author, “A Visit to Weizenbaum”

Tess deBlanc-Knowles

Director, Research and Analysis, National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence

Moderated by

Steven Grundman

Senior Fellow, Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, Atlantic Council;
Executive Producer, Source Code

Forward Defense

Forward Defense, housed within the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, generates ideas and connects stakeholders in the defense ecosystem to promote an enduring military advantage for the United States, its allies, and partners. Our work identifies the defense strategies, capabilities, and resources the United States needs to deter and, if necessary, prevail in future conflict.