Abstract
Technological developments in the sphere of artificial intelligence (AI) inspire debates about the implications of autonomous weapon systems (AWS), which can select and engage targets without human intervention. While increasingly more systems which could qualify as AWS, such as loitering munitions, are reportedly used in armed conflicts, the global discussion about a system of governance and international legal norms on AWS at the United Nations Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (UN CCW) has stalled. In this article we argue for the necessity to adopt legal norms on the use and development of AWS. Without a framework for global regulation, state practices in using weapon systems with AI-based and autonomous features will continue to shape the norms of warfare and affect the level and quality of human control in the use of force. By examining the practices of China, Russia, and the United States in their pursuit of AWS-related technologies and participation at the UN CCW debate, we acknowledge that their differing approaches make it challenging for states parties to reach an agreement on regulation, especially in a forum based on consensus. Nevertheless, we argue that global governance on AWS is not impossible. It will depend on the extent to which an actor or group of actors would be ready to take the lead on an alternative process outside of the CCW, inspired by the direction of travel given by previous arms control and weapons ban initiatives.
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Notes
In this article we generally refer to autonomous weapon systems (AWS). AWS are not a specific category of weapon. Rather, we understand AWS as being any type of weapon system which utilizes machine autonomy to select and apply force without immediate human control or intervention. While some autonomous weapons integrate AI elements into their critical functions, they may not all necessarily be based on AI technologies. We will only employ the term lethal autonomous weapon systems (LAWS) when specifically citing the discussion at the UN CCW, as this is the official term which states parties have used as part of this debate. The term “killer robots” is also commonly used in media reports to discuss these technologies. Both LAWS and “killer robots” terms emphasize the lethality of AWS (Park, 2020, p. 396; see also Ekelhof, 2017; Taddeo & Blanchard, 2022).
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Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to two anonymous reviewers and to the editors for their feedback on earlier drafts of this article.
Funding
This research is part of a project which has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No. 852123). Dr. Tom F.A. Watts’ contribution to this paper was funded by a Leverhulme Trust Early Career Research Fellowship (ECF-2022-135).
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Bode, I., Huelss, H., Nadibaidze, A. et al. Prospects for the global governance of autonomous weapons: comparing Chinese, Russian, and US practices. Ethics Inf Technol 25, 5 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10676-023-09678-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10676-023-09678-x