Two teams of five Cadets from across four sections of Advanced Philosophy and Ethical Reasoning handedly won a Virtual Debate with two teams of five students from a San Francisco Bay area school and Notre Dame de Namur University (NDNU). The project was to debate the ethics of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Future Wars. Two of Dr. Barry's NDNU student debaters were the android Bina48 (the world's most advanced social robot) and a NAO robot, Frisco.
The Debate focused on an issue of philosophical and political concern that the cadets and NDNU students analyzed from a moral perspective: Is it morally superior and virtuous to pursue and engage in non-lethal warfare (NLW) than to pursue and engage in conventional lethal warfare? The NDNU students defended the affirmative that it was morally superior and virtuous to pursue and engage in NLW. The cadets took the position of the negative and attacked their premise that it was occasionally a moral necessity to pursue and engage in conventional lethal warfare.
The Virtual Debate was a Lincoln Douglas style debate that took place on a private YouTube channel over a 30-day period. Each team would prepare, record, and upload their argument, cross examination and rebuttal. The cadets that took part in the debate were: Dan Berardino '20 (captain), Olivia Agee '20, Matt Arnold '20, Greg Brookover '20, and Rowan Crowley '20; and Team #2: Samantha Rosende '20 (team captain), Brian Brooks '20, Alex Dolan '20, Murray Johnston '20, and Maya Kuang '19.