THE WEEKLY REVEAL

Hello! In this issue:

• Could drones someday decide whom to kill?
• Where to see our new film, “Victim/Suspect.”
• Good news for an Afghan friend of Reveal.

THIS WEEK’S PODCAST

Weapons With Minds of Their Own

Credit: Molly Mendoza for Reveal

The future of warfare is being shaped by computer algorithms that are assuming ever-greater control over battlefield technology. The war in Ukraine has become a testing ground for some of these weapons, and experts warn that we are on the brink of fully autonomous drones that decide for themselves whom to kill.

This week, we revisit a story from reporter Zachary Fryer-Biggs about U.S. efforts to harness gargantuan leaps in artificial intelligence to develop weapons systems for a new kind of warfare. The push to integrate AI into battlefield technology raises a big question: How far should we go in handing control of lethal weapons to machines?

OUR LATEST

Watch ‘Victim/Suspect’ Now on Netflix

Still from “Victim/Suspect,” from Center for Investigative Reporting Studios, director Nancy Schwartzman and Motto Pictures

“I was raped, and they told me I lied about it.”

Emma Mannion went to the police in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to tell them she was raped in a car parked outside a bar near her college campus. She left her police interview in handcuffs, charged with filing a false police report. The detective simply didn’t believe her.

Reveal journalist Rae de Leon spent years gathering and investigating cases like Emma’s. The result is “Victim/Suspect,” a searing documentary that raises crucial questions about how the criminal justice system views and treats sexual assault victims.

Watch now on Netflix.

In Case You Missed It

Ending on a Good Note

About 10 years ago, we worked on a film project in Afghanistan called “To Kill A Sparrow,” which documented conditions for young women who were imprisoned for so-called moral crimes, including running away from unlawful forced marriages or marrying against a father's wish. Our fixer on that project was Mujtaba Enayat – he helped translate, arrange interviews and assure our success in producing the short film. In the final days of the U.S.’ departure from Afghanistan in 2021, we helped him and his family leave the country.

But evacuation was only the first step in the family’s journey – it wasn’t certain the government would grant asylum for them to remain permanently. We learned this week that Enayat and his family were granted asylum and are now living as new Americans, no longer fearing a return to Afghanistan.