The Double Black Box: National Security, Artificial Intelligence, and the Struggle for Democratic Accountability

Rapid advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning are increasingly vital to the conduct of national security, as countries like the United States seek to harness these tools to ensure their own efficiency, global competitiveness, and military superiority. Yet their advent threatens to exacerbate 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.

In her new book The Double Black Box, Ashley Deeks draws from her seasoned legal career at senior levels in the executive branch and academia to unpack this critical emerging challenge. She examines how we can ensure democratic accountability and legality in the use of artificial intelligence tools within national security processes; which traditional and nontraditional checks might be brought to bear; and the public law values that should undergird our approach.

On October 20, the Reiss Center on Law and Security hosted a virtual discussion on these and other developments at the intersection of AI and national security. Deeks was joined in conversation by our non-resident senior fellow Beth George ’10, former Acting General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Defense and a partner leading the strategic risk management practice at Freshfields.

Event Details:

Monday, October 20, 2025
3:00–4:00 p.m. EST
Virtual Event

This event has been approved to offer one New York State CLE credit in the category of Cybersecurity, Privacy, and Data Protection – General.

CLE Readings

• Ashley Deeks. “’The Double Black Box:’ Confronting the Double Black Box.” University of Virginia Miller Center. https://millercenter.org/double-black-box/using-checks. 
• Ashley Deeks. “’The Double Black Box:’ Losing Public Law Values.” University of Virginia Miller Center. https://millercenter.org/double-black-box/losing-public-law-values. 
• Ashley Deeks. “’The Double Black Box:’ Using Non-Traditional Checks.” University of Virginia Miller Center. https://millercenter.org/double-black-box/confronting-double-black-box. 
• “Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence.” The White House. January 23, 2025. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/removing-barriers-to-american-leadership-in-artificial-intelligence/.

Speakers

Ashley Deeks: Vice Dean and Class of 1948 Scholarly Research Professor, University of Virginia Law School; Senior Fellow, Miller Center, University of Virginia

Beth George ’10:  Partner, Co-Head of Strategic Risk Management Practice, Freshfields; Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Reiss Center on Law and Security