April 14, 2026

Despite the duty to minimize civilian harm, the use of force inevitably takes a toll on people living in conflict zones. Professors Mara Revkin and Jon Petkun studied the attitudes of Iraqi civilians toward armed forces in their midst during the Battle of Mosul, and found their perceptions of military legitimacy were shaped not by the personal harm they experienced, but by whether they felt the troops’ conduct was moral — and whether the cause for which they were fighting was just.

Professor Brandon Garrett warns that Americans’ due process rights are at risk when government agencies use AI without regulatory guardrails – particularly opaque “black box” AI systems that prevent individuals from understanding or challenging decisions affecting their rights. But he says governments can take advantage of AI’s vast capabilities —while also respecting due process — by adopting transparent, interpretable, and testable AI models that clearly explain how decisions are made and support individual legal protections.

As digital technologies like AI advance, they’re impacting not only the way people conduct their everyday lives but, through their very design, putting some elements of human autonomy at risk, says Professor Nita Farahany. In this Legal Brief, Farahany explains the concept of cognitive liberty, the right to self-determination over one’s brain and mental experiences, and why it’s so important to create protections in the modern age.

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