S12E4: Military AI and the Rise of Apocalyptic Narratives with Elke Schwarz

In this episode, Medlir sits down with Dr. Elke Schwarz—Professor of Political Theory at Queen Mary University of London and author of Death Machines: The Ethics of Violent Technologies—to explore how AI is transforming not only the tools of war, but the very way we understand conflict, responsibility, and humanity itself. We also explore the rise of apocalyptic narratives surrounding AI—what Dr. Schwarz calls “techno-eschatology.” Why are end-times stories so dominant in our cultural imagination? What political possibilities do they shut down?Links:Eichmann’s inheritance – On AI and autonomous weapons in a darkening worldGaza war: Israel using AI to identify human targets raising fears that innocents are being caught in the netBeyond Law: Reaffirming the Centrality of Ethics in WarThe (im)possibility of responsible military AI governanceFrom blitzkrieg to blitzscaling: Assessing the impact of venture capital dynamics on military normsThe Silicon Valley venture capitalists who want to ‘move fast and break things’ in the defence industryConjuring the End: Techno-eschatology and the Power of Prophecy