Self-assembling infrastructure, autonomous drones, and algorithmic governance units operate across an Arctic outpost—raising urgent questions about accountability, sovereignty, and machine-led diplomacy. Illustration by Miiko Uusitalo.
Keynote Speaker
Algorithmic Statecraft & Human Accountability
— Dr. Aris Thorne (International Commission on Autonomous Systems Governance & The Hague Institute for Advanced Technology Law)- Autonomous systems from different nations carry their creators' cultural biases into international interactions, requiring new diplomatic frameworks to prevent misunderstandings in contested territories.
- When machines make strategic decisions across borders without human oversight, traditional accountability structures break down, creating urgent needs for verification regimes that can trace responsibility back to human decision-makers.
- Autonomous Cultural Mediators (ACMs) could bridge diplomatic divides, but only if trained on genuinely diverse data that doesn't perpetuate existing power imbalances between nations.
“Who is responsible when autonomous machines act on their own?”
Dr. Aris Thorne has spent her career at the intersection of technology and governance. Formerly Chief Negotiator for the International Commission on Autonomous Systems Governance and now Senior Fellow at The Hague Institute for Advanced Technology Law, she'll deliver an address titled "Algorithmic Statecraft & Human Accountability."
Artistic impression of the 2043 Chukchi Sea incident, where Self-Assembling Arctic Infrastructure (SAAI) units constructed an operational platform without human oversight, sparking debate over machine agency and governance.
We interviewed her beforehand to get a sneak-preview. "We need frameworks as adaptive as the technologies they govern." explains Dr. Thorne. She points to the 2043 Chukchi Sea deployment as an example.
When the Hyperborea Consortium dispatched Self-Assembling Arctic Infrastructure (SAAI), a number of modular drones constructed their own operational platform on unstable sea ice—a feat previously thought impossible without human oversight.
The drones built a stable base, then assembled a launch platform from which they could deploy additional autonomous units. By the time international authorities responded, the installation was already functional—raising profound questions about territorial integrity and crisis response protocols.
In light of this watershed moment, Dr. Thorne began drawing connections to research already underway across multiple institutions. Her address will explore these emerging concepts designed for our new reality.
She'll discuss Sovereign Autonomous Cities (SACs)—not independent entities, but special economic zones with highly automated governance—and Terraforming Autonomy Units (TAUs) that could reshape Arctic environments. "These aren't science fiction," she insists. "They're projects already in the research and development phase. We need to step up our game if we want to ensure they are deployed in the right manner.”
But Dr. Thorne has invested her own research most heavily in Autonomous Cultural Mediators (ACMs). Systems specifically designed to bridge diplomatic divides in contested regions. "The Chukchi incident revealed a fundamental problem," she told me. "When autonomous systems from different nations interact in disputed waters, they bring their creators' cultural biases with them. We're researching and developing ACMs to translate not just language, but intent and values across these borders."
"When autonomous systems from different nations interact in disputed waters, they bring their creators' cultural biases with them.”
This work faces a critical challenge that keeps Dr. Thorne awake at night: ensuring these mediating systems don't simply perpetuate existing power imbalances and cultural biases.
"The core problem is data," she explained. "How do we gather training data that genuinely represents all perspectives? An ACM trained primarily on Western diplomatic norms might misinterpret actions from systems operating under different cultural frameworks."
An Autonomous Cultural Mediator (ACM) facilitating value translation between systems shaped by different cultural frameworks—an emerging concept developed by Dr. Thorne aimed at preventing diplomatic misalignment in autonomous cross-border operations.
Her team is pioneering strategies for diverse data collection and continuous bias mitigation—work she considers essential for the questions that define governance in our time: When autonomous systems operate strategically across borders, how do we trace accountability back to human decision-makers? What verification regimes can monitor systems designed to adapt and evolve?
By Sigrid Jørgensen | Illustrations by Miiko Uusitalo
Sigrid and Miiko travelled together to speak to the different keynote speakers for this story [March 13 2045]
Sigrid and Miiko travelled together to speak to the different keynote speakers for this story [March 13 2045]