Yasmin is a PhD student in the Department of Defence Studies at King’s College London. She has an academic background in law, having completed both undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, and is a qualified paralegal specialising in the ethics and regulation of autonomous military systems.

With more than five years of professional experience across strategic advisory, intelligence analysis, business insight, policy development, and AI governance in defence and policing, Yasmin’s work centres around the legal, ethical, and operational challenges associated with increasingly autonomous, AI-enabled systems.

Her doctoral research examines the role of developers in shaping accountability for autonomous systems. In particular, it explores how quantum-related opacity may affect auditability and post hoc attribution in future technologies, from system design through to deployment. Her broader work engages with developers, policymakers, legal advisers, and military practitioners to support approaches to defence AI that preserve meaningful human control, traceability, and assurance throughout the system lifecycle.

Yasmin’s proposed research examines the feasibility of an ethics by design liability framework for defence AI. It asks whether clear and enforceable responsibilities can be assigned to AI developers across the system lifecycle, from initial coding through to deployment.

The study combines doctrinal legal analysis, comparative policy research, and empirical casework, including case studies and expert interviews. It maps existing approaches to accountability in relation to autonomous weapon systems and wider defence AI, identifying where responsibility is currently allocated and where significant gaps remain.

A central strand of the research considers how emerging quantum technologies may increase system opacity, complicate traceability, and place further pressure on existing governance models. The thesis also evaluates whether greater international coordination could contribute to robust standards for maintaining meaningful human control in military operations.

Research Interests

• AI Development and Regulation
• Quantum Technology
• Ethics by Design and Liability Frameworks
• Lifecycle Assurance and Meaningful Human Control