Professor Mitt Regan


speaker Professor Mitt Regan

Automation bias, where humans defer to machine outputs without applying critical judgment, poses a serious risk to the ethical and lawful use of force.

Mitt Regan is McDevitt Professor of Jurisprudence, Director of the Center on Ethics and the Legal Profession, and Co-Director on the Center on National Security at Georgetown University Law Center. His work focuses on international law, national security, international human rights, legal and military ethics, and ethical issues relating to artificial intelligence.

Professor Regan is also Senior Fellow at the Stockdale Center for Ethical Leadership at the U.S. Naval Academy. He has been a participant in major interdisciplinary projects on national security that include Intelligence and National Security: Ethics, Efficacy, and Accountability; Global Terrorism and Collective Responsibility: Redesigning Police, Military, and Intelligence Agencies in Liberal Democracies; and Split-Second Morality: Protecting Civilians in Asymmetric Conflicts. Prior to joining Georgetown, Professor Regan served as law clerk to Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. on the U.S. Supreme Court and then-Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Talks by Professor Mitt Regan


related talk Autonomous Deadly Weapons
Autonomous Deadly Weapons

Autonomous lethal weapons, often sensationalized as “killer robots,” are no longer confined to science fiction—they are a rapidly advancing reality in modern warfare. In this conversation, Georgetown Law Professor Mitt Regan, an expert on the laws of war and international law, delves into the profound ethical and legal implications of AI-enabled weapon systems for both current conflicts and the future of warfare.

Central to the conversation are the legal frameworks governing AI-enabled weapons under international humanitarian law. Professor Regan examines principles such as distinction, proportionality, and precaution, showing how these are tested by systems that use AI to identify and engage targets. Significant gaps in legal frameworks persist, including the absence of a unified international agreement specifically addressing autonomous weaponry. As Professor Regan explains, even defining what constitutes a "lethal autonomous weapon system" remains a challenge, complicating global efforts to regulate such technologies.

This interview moves beyond the reductive “killer robots” narrative to provide a nuanced understanding of AI in warfare. It explores how AI capabilities are integrated across a range of military tools and systems, from targeting software to decision-augmentation technologies. The ethical and operational complexities of these systems require a broader, system-wide approach to oversight—one that embeds human judgment across critical stages, not just at the final trigger point. Professor Regan emphasizes the importance of legal and ethical safeguards to balance the benefits of AI with the values underpinning international law while raising important questions about the future of warfare.

Mitt Regan is a professor of law at Georgetown Law and an expert on both national security and international humanitarian law.