Double Black Box: AI, National Security, and Transparency Struggles

Published Date : 9/10/2025 

Rapid advances in artificial intelligence are vital to national security operations, but they also exacerbate transparency and accountability issues. Explore how these challenges can be addressed in a democratic society. 

Rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI) are increasingly vital to national security operations. The United States, China, and other states are actively harnessing these tools to bolster their military and intelligence superiority. However, the advent of AI exacerbates an existing paradox within our democracy: some of the most consequential decisions made in the name of national security are often the least transparent and accountable. The use of AI makes this problem even more pronounced.

In her new book, 'The Double Black Box,' Ashley Deeks, Vice Dean of the University of Virginia School of Law, addresses this pressing challenge. She examines how we can ensure democratic accountability, legality, and effectiveness in the use of AI tools within national security processes. Deeks also explores which traditional and nontraditional checks on the executive branch might be brought to bear on the use of national security AI.

Harvard Law School Professor Kristen Eichensehr will hold a conversation with Deeks about the book, unpacking its arguments and inviting the audience into the discussion. Copies of Deeks' book will be sold at the event.

Ashley Deeks is a prominent figure in the field of international law, national security, and intelligence. She teaches and writes on these subjects at the University of Virginia School of Law. From 2021 to 2022, she served as White House Associate Counsel and Deputy Legal Adviser to the National Security Council. Before joining academia, she spent nearly a decade in the U.S. State Department’s Office of the Legal Adviser, including roles as Assistant Legal Adviser for Political-Military Affairs and Embassy Legal Adviser in Baghdad during Iraq’s constitutional negotiations.

Deeks’s research focuses on how governments navigate secrecy, executive power, and international legal constraints in the national security realm. She has written extensively on the use of force, sanctions, secret treaties, and the intersection of domestic and international law. She is a member of the State Department’s Advisory Committee on International Law and the American Law Institute, a Faculty Senior Fellow at UVA’s Miller Center, and a contributing editor at Lawfare. Deeks received her J.D. with honors from the University of Chicago Law School and clerked for Judge Edward R. Becker on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

Kristen Eichensehr, a Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, specializes in the intersections of foreign relations, national security, cybersecurity, and international law. Her recent scholarship addresses national security screening of investments, separation of powers in the national security state, attribution of state-sponsored cyberattacks, and how the Supreme Court’s major questions doctrine affects U.S. international agreements.

Eichensehr is a member of the U.S. State Department’s Advisory Committee on International Law and an adviser for the Restatement (Fourth) of the Foreign Relations Law of the United States. She serves on the editorial boards of Just Security and the Journal of National Security Law & Policy. Her scholarship has been recognized with the Mike Lewis Prize for National Security Law and as one of the best corporate law articles of 2023 by Corporate Practice Commentator.

Before entering academia, Eichensehr clerked for Justices Sandra Day O’Connor and Sonia Sotomayor of the U.S. Supreme Court and for then-Judge Merrick B. Garland of the D.C. Circuit. She also served as Special Assistant to the Legal Adviser at the U.S. Department of State.

This event is sponsored by the Orrick Fund for the Colloquium on Cybersecurity/Cyberlaw, providing a platform for in-depth discussions on the critical issues at the intersection of technology, law, and national security. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQS): 

Q: What is the main focus of Ashley Deeks' book, 'The Double Black Box'?

A: The book focuses on the challenges of ensuring democratic accountability, legality, and effectiveness in the use of artificial intelligence tools within national security processes.

Q: How does the use of AI in national security exacerbate transparency issues?

A: The use of AI in national security often involves complex algorithms and decision-making processes that are not easily understood or transparent to the public, making it difficult to hold decision-makers accountable.

Q: Who is Kristen Eichensehr and what is her role in the discussion?

A: Kristen Eichensehr is a Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. She will be leading a conversation with Ashley Deeks to discuss the book and its implications.

Q: What are some of the key topics covered in Deeks' research?

A: Deeks' research covers a wide range of topics including the use of force, sanctions, secret treaties, and the intersection of domestic and international law in the context of national security.

Q: What is the Orrick Fund for the Colloquium on Cybersecurity/Cyberlaw?

A: The Orrick Fund for the Colloquium on Cybersecurity/Cyberlaw is a sponsor that supports events and discussions on the critical issues at the intersection of technology, law, and national security. 

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