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What level of human control over autonomous weapon systems is required by international law

What level of human control over autonomous weapon systems is required by international law
What level of human control over autonomous weapon systems is required by international law
Autonomous weapon systems [AWS] raise profound legal, ethical and moral concerns. Scholars have asked, for example, whether AWS can comply with international humanitarian law [IHL]; whether their use will lower the threshold on the use of force and undermine jus ad bellum rules and whether their deployment will create an accountability gap in violation of victims’ rights to remedy. While there is no agreed definition of AWS, the United Kingdom House of Lords’ recent report carries definitions that generally describe AWS as robots that, once activated, are able to make targeting decisions without further human intervention.

In the recent United Nations Group of Governmental Experts [GGE] meeting [9-13 April] on Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems, States reiterated the need to maintain human control over AWS. Notwithstanding the general consensus on maintaining human control over AWS, there is no agreement on the nature of that human control or how it should be defined.
Chengeta, Thompson
295753c7-6746-4291-bbbf-3a109ae6f281
Chengeta, Thompson
295753c7-6746-4291-bbbf-3a109ae6f281

Chengeta, Thompson (2018) What level of human control over autonomous weapon systems is required by international law. EJIL:Talk!.

Record type: Article

Abstract

Autonomous weapon systems [AWS] raise profound legal, ethical and moral concerns. Scholars have asked, for example, whether AWS can comply with international humanitarian law [IHL]; whether their use will lower the threshold on the use of force and undermine jus ad bellum rules and whether their deployment will create an accountability gap in violation of victims’ rights to remedy. While there is no agreed definition of AWS, the United Kingdom House of Lords’ recent report carries definitions that generally describe AWS as robots that, once activated, are able to make targeting decisions without further human intervention.

In the recent United Nations Group of Governmental Experts [GGE] meeting [9-13 April] on Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems, States reiterated the need to maintain human control over AWS. Notwithstanding the general consensus on maintaining human control over AWS, there is no agreement on the nature of that human control or how it should be defined.

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Published date: 17 May 2018

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Local EPrints ID: 431747
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/431747
PURE UUID: 56888201-fc06-4838-bced-e420ba273940
ORCID for Thompson Chengeta: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-8098-1993

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Date deposited: 14 Jun 2019 16:30
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 02:14

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Author: Thompson Chengeta ORCID iD

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