Young Voices for Disarmament: The Trajectory of Activist Lauren Barnard, Associate Researcher of Stop Killer Robots

Lauren Barnard is a young British activist involved with the Stop Killer Robots (SKR) campaign for new international laws on Autonomous Weapons Systems, to ensure human control in the use of force.

Her journey began during her undergraduate studies, when she took a module in International Humanitarian Law (IHL) at the University of Kent, and developed an interest in the law of targeting. Lauren began leading a campaign to secure the student union’s support of a motion in favour of SKR and founded a working group to carry this work forward into university policy which resulted in her participation as an active member in the UK campaign.

My motivation originally stemmed from a feeling that the issue of autonomy in weapons systems was not being taken seriously enough - that it needed to be talked about more.

From this work, Lauren had the opportunity to gain experience in the field of regulating autonomous weapons systems, such as when she was funded to attend a conference organized by the campaign in Vienna in 2024, and later took on a paid research position in 2025. She is currently working on updating the 2022 report “Stop Killer Robots in UK Universities”, which analyzes how research at UK universities may be used for the development of autonomous weapons systems.

To continue developing her expertise in the regulation of autonomous weapons systems, she decided to undertake a Master’s in Innovation, Technology and the Law at the University of Edinburgh. The young activist even wrote her undergraduate dissertation on the impacts of automation bias on human operators of autonomous weapons systems and is interested in how the structure of military command is affected by the use of these devices.

My motivation for continued engagement in this campaign is that we have an opportunity to strengthen IHL through a new instrument, in favour of preventing unlawful or unjust targeting through the use of AWS. Re-stating IHL is insufficient - we must ensure that humanity is maintained in the use of force.

Lauren recently had the opportunity to spend a week in Geneva and speak with diplomats by participating in the March 2026 session of the United Nations Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) on emerging technologies in the domain of lethal autonomous weapons systems. There were five days (March 2nd to 6th) of formal debates among diplomats, international organizations, academics, and civil society. The GGE is currently discussing a set of elements for a potential instrument to ensure the use of autonomous weapons complies with international humanitarian law. During that week, she also attended side events, developing and delivering statements that emphasized the campaign’s mission to maintain human control over the use of force, and made a personal statement on the importance of proper knowledge about the effects of autonomous systems and the need to take measures to mitigate the algorithmic bias inherent to automation.

To be delivering a statement to a room full of state diplomats, who have the power to implement change in this area, was very meaningful.

For Lauren Barnard, being a young activist today means facing various forms of resistance from many sectors, such as industry and individuals who do not see a problem in the development of these technologies.

What is at stake here is so significant: human lives, fundamental principles of the law of  targeting, and just warfare. It is the limited protection that civilians have, in contrast to the apathy of many. As individuals, we do have a choice: to care or not to care about how we live our lives and being a disarmament activist today means choosing to care despite all we are up against.

In addition to this problem of apathy Lauren states that another great challenge that young disarmament activists have to face is financial. The young woman says she is lucky to have obtained some small scholarships and a paid job at the beginning of her career, but that she continues to be mostly engaged in this work on a voluntary basis. For her, we need more scholarships dedicated to the participation of diverse young people in discussions about disarmament.

The young activist believes that other young people should engage in topics of Humanitarian Disarmament, because critical thinking around topics of war, deaths and the growing use of autonomous weapons must be developed and exercised. These are alarming and distressing issues, but thinking and acting on them, instead of ignoring them, is the only path to change.

The need to engage for causes such as Humanitarian Disarmament resides in the urgency of this problem and that people like her, living in countries unlikely to be affected by conflicts, should try to act for the many children and adults, men and women, who cannot do the same in the face of scenarios of uninterrupted belligerence and instability. The impact of such technologies is already being felt and will only increase. This is the time to make a difference.

We can combat digital dehumanization by raising awareness of issues caused by automation in the domain of weaponry, collectively deciding and reaffirming that such a situation is unacceptable.

Written by: Kamilly Rosa

Reviewed by: Fernando Fiala