Abstract

This talk examines how the politics of artificial intelligence (AI) intersect with biological and chemical weapons, as well as broader developments in biomedicine and emerging technologies. AI-enabled capabilities are increasingly pervasive, and while significant uncertainty remains over how these tools will be developed and deployed, their potential to be revolutionary, disruptive, or transformative is widely acknowledged by policymakers, technologists, and commentators. Globally, AI has become central to debates over military capabilities and the balance of power. Against this backdrop, the talk explores how AI interacts with fields such as drug discovery, synthetic biology, biomanufacturing, robotics, and nanotechnology, and considers how these intersections may reshape risks, governance challenges, and security dynamics. It highlights the ways in which these technologies could both exacerbate and mitigate future global security threats, raising critical questions for policymakers navigating an increasingly complex strategic environment.

About the Speaker

Dr Margaret E Kosal is a Full Professor at the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at Georgia Institute of Technology, where she serves as Director of Graduate Studies, Director of the Georgia Tech Military Fellows Program, and Director of the Policy and Politics of Emerging Science and Technology Initiative. Formally trained as an experimental scientist, Dr. Kosal earned a doctoral degree in Chemistry from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). She is also the co-founder of a sensor company, where she led the research and development of biological and chemical weapons detectors, as well as biomedical sensors. Dr. Kosal has served as a Senior Advisor to the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army, as Science and Technology Advisor within the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), and as Senior Fellow at the US Department of Energy’s Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL). She is also an elected Honorary Lifetime Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and a Senior Associate Fellow at UK’s Royal Uniformed Services Institute (RUSI). She is the author of numerous publications including Disruptive and Game Changing Technologies in Modern Warfare: Development, Use, and Proliferation, which was recognized by NATO as a Top Book of 2021. Additionally, Dr. Kosal served as Editor-in-Chief of the journal, Politics and the Life Sciences.