Autonomous Decision-Making Processes and the Responsible Cyber Commander

Abstract

As the industrialization of cyber war proceeds apace, an emerging consensus is developing that the law of armed conflict applies to those cyber operations that either do, or are intended to, injure people and damage their property. Cyber commanders will be responsible under the law of armed conflict for war crimes in this regard. At the same time, the likely pace of tomorrow's cyber operations will likely force cyber commanders to rely heavily on autonomous decision-making processes in order for them to remain operationally relevant. These processes must be designed so that they are compliant with the law of armed conflict if commanders are to rely upon them.

Keywords: autonomous, robot, weapon, cyber, law of armed conflict

JEL Classification: K33