Leadership Challenges to the Deployment of Autonomous Weapons (AWS)

12 Pages Posted: 3 Mar 2021

Date Written: October 30, 2020

Abstract

Autonomous Weapon Systems (AWS) are defined as robotic weapons that have the ability to sense and act unilaterally depending on how they are programmed. Such human-out-of-the-loop platforms will be capable of selecting targets and delivering lethality without any human interaction. This weapon technology may still be in its infancy, but both semi-autonomous and other pre-cursor systems are already in service. There are several drivers to a move from merely automatic weapons to fully autonomous weapons which are able to engage a target based solely upon algorithm-based decision-making. This requires material step-change in both hardware and software and, once deployed, posits a significant change in how humans wage war. But complex technical difficulties must first be overcome if this new independent and self-learning weapon category can legally be deployed on the battlefield. AWS also pose basic statutory, moral and ethical challenges.

This paper identifies the manifest complexity involved in fielding a weapon that can operate without human oversight while still retaining value as a battlefield asset. The subject’s importance is that several well-tried concepts that have long comprised battlecraft may no longer be fit for purpose. While the recent development pace in these technologies may appear extraordinary, fundamental fault lines endure. The paper also notes the inter-dependent and highly coupled nature of the routines that are envisaged for AWS operation, in particular ramifications arising from its machine learning spine, in order to demonstrate how detrimental are these compromises to AWS deployment models. In highlighting AWS deployment challenges, the analysis draws on broad primary and secondary sources to conclude that Meaningful Human Control (MHC) should be a statutory requirement in all violent engagements.

Keywords: autonomous weapons, behavioural challenges to autonomy

Suggested Citation

walker, paddy, Leadership Challenges to the Deployment of Autonomous Weapons (AWS) (October 30, 2020). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3757523 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3757523

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