Statement on 

Russia’s Unjustified and Unprovoked Attack on Ukraine

1 March 2022

The Center for AI and Digital Policy condemns Russia’s unjustified and unprovoked attack on Ukraine. We urge Russia to immediately halt all forms of aggression against the people of Ukraine.

As an organization established to defend fundamental rights, democratic institutions, and the rule of law, we condemn this blatant violation of international law. This is an act of aggression against a sovereign, independent, and peaceful country.

We urge all nations to make clear their support for Ukraine. 

We also stand with international organizations in the field of digital policy, including the OECD, the Council of Europe, the European Union, and UNESCO, that have opposed the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

We call attention to the danger of Artificial Intelligence techniques that promote propaganda, enable cyberattacks, and make possible automated warfare.

• Internet-companies are now amplifying pro-Putin content. That is the consequence of algorithms trained to maximize hits and profits. 

• Russia’s cyberattacks threaten Ukraine and countries around the world.

• Russia has opposed the UN convention that would prohibit Lethal Autonomous Weapons. These AI-enabled  weapon systems pose an immediate threat to the safety and well-being of all nations.

We also urge countries and industries to monitor the use of algorithmic techniques for disinformation campaigns, cyberattacks, and automated warfare. 

We believe that human-centric and trustworthy AI can contribute to greater international cooperation, peace, and human well-being.

We support the people of Ukraine. 

[Preliminary endorsements. More names are being added]

Marc Rotenberg, President, CAIDP
Merve Hickok, Chairwoman, CAIDP; Founder, AIethicist
Karine Caunes, Global Program Director, CAIDP; Editor-in-Chief, European Law Journal (France)
Lorraine Kisselburgh, PhD; CAIDP Board of Directors; Purdue University; Past Chair ACM Tech Policy Council
Len Kennedy, CAIDP Board Member

Dr. Pablo Molina, CAIDP Board Member; Founder, International Applied Ethics and Technology Association
Professor Ben Shneiderman
Professor Moshe Vardi
August Gweon, CAIDP Fellow (United States)
Writankar Kundu
Ritwik Bhattacharya
Borislav Iordanov (United States)
John J Daly (United States)
Giuliano Borter, CAIDP Fellow (Switzerland)
Eric Wamugu, The Center for AI and Digital Policy (Kenya)
Asst. Professor Moritz Scherleitner (Suomi)
Professor  Markus Krebsz, CAIDP (UK and Germany)
Yelyzaveta Markova, CAIDP and PhD candidate at Radboud University (Ukraine)
Hannes Werthner, Digital Humanism Initiative
Karen Rea, MKAI & ForHumanity (UK)
Chris Leong (United Kingdom)
Luisa Mich, University of Trento (Italy)
Gregor Rosenauer, TU alumnus (Austria)
Franco Tomasi, President, Manageritalia Trentino-Alto Adige (Italy)
Michael Dekner, Österreich
Marianne Kramer (The Netherlands)
Rishi Ray (India)
Rachel Stockton, CAIDP (United States)
Grażyna Busse, Association HIPOKAMP (Poland)
Anirban Sen (India)
Lucas Cardiell, European Union University (Finland)
Narain Yucel, CAIDP (Canada)
Samantha Msipa, CAIDP (South Africa)
Lyantoniette Chua, CAIDP Fellow (Philippines)
Olek Suchodolski (Lithuania)
Preethika Pilinja (India)
Moin Khan (Germany)
Liliana Fernandez (Colombia)
Jonathan Kurniawan
Mélissa M'Raidi-Kechichian, CAIDP (Canada)
Rebecca Leeper, CAIDP Fellow (United States)
Alex Moltzau, Norwegian Artificial Intelligence Research Consortium (Norway)
Antonio Placido Buffelli (Italy)
Christian Smith-Bishop
Professor Reinhard Wilhelm, Saarland University (Germany)
Victoria Breshears (United States)
Theresa DiCenzo (United States)
Eli Singerman (Israel)
Loren Gordon, University of Houston (United States)
Barbara Simons, Past President, ACM (United States)
Tina Lassiter
Cecilia B. Garibotti, CAIDP (Argentina)
Professor Giovani Sartor, University of Bologna (Italy)
Henry Kafeman (United Kingdom)
Professor Ingrid Schneider, Universität Hamburg (Germany)
Wonki Min (Korea)
Leng Professor of International Politics and Economics, Allison Stanger, Middlebury College
Professor Lucy Suchman, Lancaster University, UK (Canada)
Amina Qutub
Professor Peter Ludes, University of Cologne (Germany)
Dr. Gianluca Misuraca, InTouchAI.eu (Spain)
Christian Thomas Nielsen Garcia, University of Copenhagen (Denmark)
Professor Joseph David (Israel)
Professor Leyla Keser,  Istanbul Bilgi University IT Law Institute (Turkey)
Vanja Skoric (Netherlands)
Kriz Royce A. Tahimic
Dr. Irena Nesterova, University of Latvia (Latvia)
Professor Nuno Guimaraes, ISCTE (Portugal)
Professor Gianclaudio Malgieri, EDHEC Business School (Italy)
Paula Soumaya Domit, CAIDP Fellow (United States)
Professor Giuseppe Attardi, Università di Pisa (Italy)
Cyrus Hodes (United States)
Robert Kroplewski, Plenipotentiary of Minister of Digital Affairs for Information Society (Poland)
Sharvari Dhote (Canada)
Professor Sharvari Dhote, IUSTO (Italy)
Mag. Dr. Phil. Alessandro Barberi, University Vienna / University Magdeburg (Austria / Germany)
Dr  George Tilesch, PHI Institute for Augmented Intelligence (United States)
Giovanni De Gregorio, University of Oxford (United Kingdom)
Professor Oreste Pollicino, Bocconi University (Italy)
Guenther Seidel, EURONAT (Europe)

Anne Carblanc (France)

Afi Blackshear, CAIDP Extern (United States)

Professor Niovi Vavoula, School of Law, Queen Mary University (United Kingdom)

Prajwal Saokar

Associate Professor, Harry Hochheiser, University of Pittsburgh

Dr. Eugene H. Spafford

Andrew Oram (United States)

Dr. Christian Zolles (Austria)

Doug Schuler, ACM SIGCAS Chair 

Peter G. Neumann, SRI International, Computer Science Lab (United States)

Gerhard Schimpf, ACM Europe TPC (Germany)

Charles Mok, GDPi, Stanford University 

Professor Adam Smith, Boston University

Dr. Joe Yau, Hong Kong Baptist University (Hong Kong)

Dr. Don Gotterbarn

Dr. Masao Horibe, Professor Emeritus at Hitotsubashi University (Japan)

Dr. Jeanna Matthews, Clarkson University, ACM, IEEE (United States)

Pam Dixon, World Privacy Forum

Professor Jim Kurose, University of Massachusetts (United States)

Professor Edward Santow,  University of Technology Sydney (Australia)

Dr. Meltem Ciger, SDU (Turkey)

Professor Tom Crick, Gerhard Schimpf (United Kingdom)

Wendell A. Wallach, Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs (United States)

Rebecca Herold, Privacy and Security Braniacs (United States)

Dr. John Murray, San José State U, ACM, AAAI (Ireland)

Professor Viviana Polisena, Universidad Católica de Córdoba - UCC (Argentina)

Dalila Hoover (United States)

Monika Venčkauskaitė (Lithuania)

Professor Valerie Barr, Mount Holyoke College (United States)

Emeritus Professor Douglas W. Jones, University of Iowa (United States)

Dr. Ricardo Baeza-Yates, Institute for Experiential AI (Chile)

Dr. Sebastian Scheurer, University College Cork (Ireland)

Dr. Brian Krupp, Baldwin Wallace University (United States)

Paul Hyland (United States)

Dr. Jeb Weisman (United States)

Dr. Jeffrey Johnson, University of San Francisco (United States)

Francois Bedard

Khatia Zukhubaia (Georgia)

Ravy Uong (United States)

Dr. Michael Tinker (United States)

Todd Davies, Stanford University (United States)

Professor Sandeep K. Shukla. IIT Kanpur (India)

Professor Jeffrey Yost, Charles Babbage Institute

Professor Samuel A. Rebelsky, Grinnell College

Somaieh Nikpoor, CAIDP Fellow (Canada)

Bryan F Morales, Georgetown University

Tamar Kankava (Georgia)

Sarah Horton

Eric Allen, Chief Scientist, Acrisure Capital

Dr. David Noelle, University of California, Merced

Ms Viola (Uganda)

Professor Nadia Thalmann, University of Geneva (Switzerland)

Andras Hlacs, Member of the OECD’s Network of Experts on AI (ONE AI) and co-chair of its working group on national AI policies (Hungary)

Dr. Mor Vered, Monash University (Australia)

Professor Jane Nishimura, The New School

Antonija Hinckel Osojnik, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen (Germany)

Dr. Grace Thomson (United Arab Emirates)

Lena Baumgartner (Austria)

MeeLeng Poon (Singapore)

Christina Cociancig, CAIDP (Germany)

Prof. Dr. Eleni Kosta, Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology, and Society (TILT), Tilburg University (The Netherlands)

Professor L. Jean Camp, School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering

[More endorsements are invited - email support-ukraine@caidp.org]

ForHumanity

Ryan Carrier, Executive Director

AI Transparency Institute

Eva Thelisson, Cofounder

Transpire

Tony Stubbs, Global Network Director

World Usability Day

Elizabeth Rosenzweig

Women in AI & Robotics Germany

Sheila Beladinejad