Drones, AI, and Hybrid Threats: Between Defense, Escalation, and Responsibility.
The evening will center on a lecture and a discussion with Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, Chair of the Committee on Security and Defense in the European Parliament. The discussion will be complemented by an ethical-theological perspective from Prof. Dr. Gerhard Schreiber, professor of social and technological ethics, as well as a technical perspective from Prof. Dr. Tobias Kreilos of Offenburg University of Applied Sciences. Academy Director Dr. Gernot Meier will moderate the evening.
Background: Drones, artificial intelligence, and hybrid warfare are not only transforming military capabilities; they are changing the political grammar of violence. Violence becomes more distant, decisions are accelerated, and military and civilian spheres intertwine. At the same time, it becomes more difficult to achieve what remains indispensable for democratic societies: ensuring accountability.
Who decides when technical systems detect, classify, prioritize, and suggest courses of action? Where does human control fit in when real-time military situational assessments are generated and political decision-making comes under pressure to act faster? And how can a democratic society remain capable of defending itself without permanently transforming its own political culture into a logic of constant threat?
This event is a collaboration between the Evangelical Academy of Baden and the Institute for Machine Learning and Analytics (IMLA) at Hochschule Offenburg. It will take place on the Hochschule Offenburg campus, Room D001.
Date: Monday, October 5, 2026, 6:00–8:00 p.m.
Location: Hochschule Offenburg, Badstraße 24, 77652 Offenburg
Participation is free of charge; please register by September 21, 2026: