Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems

2018 ◽  
pp. 289-316
Author(s):  
Michael W. Meier

Over the past decade, there has been a proliferation of remotely piloted aircraft or “drones” being used on the battlefield. Advances in technology are going to continue to drive changes in how future conflicts will be waged. Technological innovation, however, is not without its detractors as there are various groups calling for a moratorium or ban on the development and use of autonomous weapons systems. Some groups have called for a prohibition on the development, production, and use of fully autonomous weapons through an international legally binding instrument, while others view advances in the use of technology on the battlefield as a natural progression that will continue to make weapons systems more discriminate. The unanswered question is, which point of view will be the right one? This chapter approaches this question by addressing the meaning of “autonomy” and “autonomous weapons systems.” In addition, this chapter looks at the U.S. Department of Defense’s vision for the potential employment of autonomous systems, the legal principle applicable to these systems, and the weapons review process.

2021 ◽  
pp. 237-258
Author(s):  
S. Kate Devitt

The rise of human-information systems, cybernetic systems, and increasingly autonomous systems requires the application of epistemic frameworks to machines and human-machine teams. This chapter discusses higher-order design principles to guide the design, evaluation, deployment, and iteration of Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS) based on epistemic models. Epistemology is the study of knowledge. Epistemic models consider the role of accuracy, likelihoods, beliefs, competencies, capabilities, context, and luck in the justification of actions and the attribution of knowledge. The aim is not to provide ethical justification for or against LAWS, but to illustrate how epistemological frameworks can be used in conjunction with moral apparatus to guide the design and deployment of future systems. The models discussed in this chapter aim to make Article 36 reviews of LAWS systematic, expedient, and evaluable. A Bayesian virtue epistemology is proposed to enable justified actions under uncertainty that meet the requirements of the Laws of Armed Conflict and International Humanitarian Law. Epistemic concepts can provide some of the apparatus to meet explainability and transparency requirements in the development, evaluation, deployment, and review of ethical AI.


Author(s):  
Duncan MacIntosh

Setting aside the military advantages offered by Autonomous Weapons Systems for a moment, international debate continues to feature the argument that the use of lethal force by “killer robots” inherently violates human dignity. The purpose of this chapter is to refute this assumption of inherent immorality and demonstrate situations in which deploying autonomous systems would be strategically, morally, and rationally appropriate. The second part of this chapter objects to the argument that the use of robots in warfare is somehow inherently offensive to human dignity. Overall, this chapter will demonstrate that, contrary to arguments made by some within civil society, moral employment of force is possible, even without proximate human decision-making. As discussions continue to swirl around autonomous weapons systems, it is important not to lose sight of the fact that fire-and-forget weapons are not morally exceptional or inherently evil. If an engagement complied with the established ethical framework, it is not inherently morally invalidated by the absence of a human at the point of violence. As this chapter argues, the decision to employ lethal force becomes problematic when a more thorough consideration would have demanded restraint. Assuming a legitimate target, therefore, the importance of the distance between human agency in the target authorization process and force delivery is separated by degrees. A morally justifiable decision to engage a target with rifle fire would not be ethically invalidated simply because the lethal force was delivered by a commander-authorized robotic carrier.


2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 307
Author(s):  
Faiq Tobroni

ABSTRAKAdanya pandangan hukum diametral tidak bisa dihindari dalam penegakan hukum. Sebagai contoh terdapat dalam Putusan Nomor 0156/Pdt.P/2013/PA.JS. Kasus ini dianalisis dengan mempertimbangkan pandangan hukum diametral. Penelitian ini mempunyai rumusan masalah apakah asas hukum yang terefleksikan dari pertimbangan hukum yang dikonstruksikan hakim untuk menyikapi hak keperdataan anak hasil hubungan gelap, serta bagaimana kasus tersebut ditinjau dari asas tersebut? Penelitian ini menggunakan metode penelitian hukum normative. Pertimbangan hukum dalam Putusan Nomor 0156/Pdt.P/2013/PA.JS menunjukkan adanya penerapan asas proporsionalitas. Penerapan asas tersebut direfleksikan dari pertimbangan hukum yang mengkompromikan semangat liberalisasi dan pembatasan hak keperdataan. Semangat liberalisasi berakar pada kemutlakan hak asasi manusia yang didukung pandangan universalisme hak asasi manusia. Sementara semangat pembatasan berakar pada sakralitas munakahat Islam yang didukung pandangan relativisme hak asasi manusia. Dengan asas tersebut, majelis hakim menyetujui beberapa hak keperdataan yang termasuk hak sakral dalam munakahat Islam. Solusinya, majelis hakim hanya memberikan hak pemenuhan kebutuhan hidup dan wasiat wajibah kepada anak hasil hubungan gelap. Putusan dan pertimbangan hukum tersebut memenuhi empat indikator asas proporsionalitas sebagai moderasi pandangan hukum diametral, yaitu: necessity, legitimate goal of law, rational achievement, dan balancing.Kata kunci: asas proporsionalitas, hak keperdataan, hak asasi manusia, munakahat Islam, anak hasil hubungan gelap. ABSTRACTThe application of a diametric legal view cannot be avoided in law enforcement. For an example, the case of Court Decision Number 0156/Pdt.P/2013/PA.JS. This case is analyzed by considering the diametric legal point of view. This research problem statement is that what kind of legal principle reflected in the legal considerations of judges in order to address the civil rights of extramarital children and how the case is viewed from principles? This study uses normative legal research methods. Legal considerations in Court Decision Number 0156/Pdt.P/2013/PA.JS indicates the application of proportionality principle. Application of this principle is reflected from the legal considerations that compromise the spirit of liberalization and restriction of civil rights. The spirit of liberalization is rooted in the absolution of human rights supported by universalism view of human rights. Meanwhile, the spirit of restrictions is rooted in the sacredness of munakahat Islam, which is supported by the relativism of human rights. With this principle, the panel of judges approved several civil rights, including sacred rights in munakahat Islam. As a solution, the panel of judges only provide the right to fulfill the necessities of life and the obligatory will to the extramarital children. These judgements and legal considerations fulfill the four indicators of proportionality principle moderating the perspectives of diametric law, namely necessity, legitimate goals of law, rational achievement, and balancing.Keywords: proportionality principle, civil rights, human rights, munakahat Islam, extramarital children.


2022 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 182-204
Author(s):  
A. Yu. Lipova

In the recent years debates surrounding the autonomous weapons systems development and regulation have gained a new momentum. Despite the fact that the development of such type of weapons continues since the twentieth century, recent technological advances open up new possibilities for development of completely autonomous combat systems that will operate without human in-tervention. In this context, international community faces a number of ethical, legal, and regulatory issues. This paper examines the ongoing debates in both the Western and the Russian expert community on the challenges and prospects for using lethal autonomous systems. The author notes that Russian and Western discourses on most of the issues have very much in common and diff erences are found mainly in the intensity of debates — in the West they are much more ac-tive. In both cases the most active debates focus around two issues: the potential implications of fully autonomous weapons systems including the unclear line of accountability, and the prospects for international legal regulation of the use of lethal autonomous weapons. Both the Russian and the Western experts agree that the contemporary international humanitarian law is unable to handle the challenges posed by aggressive development of the lethal autonomous weapons. All this points to the need to adapt the international humanitarian law to the new realities, which, in turn, requires concerted actions from leading states and international organizations.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 115
Author(s):  
Roman Dremliuga

This article focuses on the problem of regulation of the application of the autonomous weapons systems from the perspective of the norms and principles of international humanitarian law. The article discusses the question of what restrictions are imposed on the application of such weapons in the international humanitarian law. The article presents a number of principles that must be met by both the weapons and their method of their application: distinction between civilians and combatants, military necessity, proportionality, prohibition on causing unnecessary suffering, and humanity. The author concludes that from the perspective of the principles of the international humanitarian law, it is doubtful if autonomous systems would be able to comply with these principles. Weapons that hit targets without human intervention have been applied for a long time, but they have never had the independence that they have now. The issue of compliance of autonomous weapons systems with the international humanitarian law can be considered if sufficient experience of application of such weapons in real conditions is accumulated. This study demonstrates that it is impossible to say that autonomous weapons systems do not comply with the principles of humanitarian law in general. The paper provides policy recommendations and assessments for each of the principles under consideration. The author also concludes that it would be necessary not to prohibit autonomous weapons, because they do not comply with the principles of international humanitarian law, but to develop rules for their application and for human participation in their functioning. A significant challenge to the development of such rules is the opacity of these autonomous weapons systems, if we look at them as at the complex intelligent computer systems.


Author(s):  
Jai Galliott

Technology has always allowed agents of war to separate themselves from the harm that they or their armed forces inflict with spears, bows and arrows, trebuchets, cannons, firearms, and other modern weaponry, all serving as examples of technologies that have increased the distance between belligerents and supposedly made warfare less sickening than the close-quarters combat of the past. This chapter calls into question the claims of some proponents of a ban moratorium on lethal autonomous weapons systems regarding a responsibility gap and contends that most implications associated with the introduction of autonomous technologies can be resolved by recognizing that autonomy does not mean the elimination of a human influence on the battlefield and advocates for a black-box-type recorder to ensure compliance with just war theory and the laws of war.


Author(s):  
Jai Galliott

Technology has always allowed agents of war to separate themselves from the harm that they or their armed forces inflict with spears, bows and arrows, trebuchets, cannons, firearms, and other modern weaponry, all serving as examples of technologies that have increased the distance between belligerents and supposedly made warfare less sickening than the close-quarters combat of the past. This chapter calls into question the claims of some proponents of a ban moratorium on lethal autonomous weapons systems regarding a responsibility gap and contends that most implications associated with the introduction of autonomous technologies can be resolved by recognizing that autonomy does not mean the elimination of a human influence on the battlefield and advocates for a black-box-type recorder to ensure compliance with just war theory and the laws of war.


Author(s):  
Liubomyr Ilyn

Purpose. The purpose of the article is to analyze and systematize the views of social and political thinkers of Galicia in the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries. on the right and manner of organizing a nation-state as a cathedral. Method. The methodology includes a set of general scientific, special legal, special historical and philosophical methods of scientific knowledge, as well as the principles of objectivity, historicism, systematic and comprehensive. The problem-chronological approach made it possible to identify the main stages of the evolution of the content of the idea of catholicity in Galicia's legal thought of the 19th century. Results. It is established that the idea of catholicity, which was borrowed from church terminology, during the nineteenth century. acquired clear legal and philosophical features that turned it into an effective principle of achieving state unity and integrity. For the Ukrainian statesmen of the 19th century. the idea of catholicity became fundamental in view of the separation of Ukrainians between the Russian and Austro-Hungarian empires. The idea of unity of Ukrainians of Galicia and the Dnieper region, formulated for the first time by the members of the Russian Trinity, underwent a long evolution and received theoretical reflection in the work of Bachynsky's «Ukraine irredenta». It is established that catholicity should be understood as a legal principle, according to which decisions are made in dialogue, by consensus, and thus able to satisfy the absolute majority of citizens of the state. For Galician Ukrainians, the principle of unity in the nineteenth century. implemented through the prism of «state» and «international» approaches. Scientific novelty. The main stages of formation and development of the idea of catholicity in the views of social and political figures of Halychyna of the XIX – beginning of the XX centuries are highlighted in the work. and highlighting the distinctive features of «national statehood» that they promoted and understood as possible in the process of unification of Ukrainian lands into one state. Practical significance. The results of the study can be used in further historical and legal studies, preparation of special courses.


2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
pp. 39
Author(s):  
Yéssica Elizabeth Barreto Macías ◽  
Colón Avellán Velásquez

El actual trabajo afronta una de las problemáticas más apremiantes de los actuales momentos como es el alto índice de dispendio de drogas en las Instituciones Educativas, que afectan considerablemente a la sociedad ecuatoriana. Su objetivo es analizar los lineamientos que permitan mejorar la orientación familiar, y desarrollar relaciones interpersonales apropiadas que fomenten la unión familiar, practicar principios, fomentar valores morales, y que los jóvenes aprendan a decir “no” ante una eventual propuesta de consumir compuestos prohibidos, que lo único que se consigue es materializarse en un estado no idóneo ante la comunidad, considerar que las consecuencias para la salud son devastadoras, personas que a temprana edad padecen de enfermedades que en muchas ocasiones son gravísimas, causando malestar no solamente propio sino a la familia. Puedo mencionar como aporte de este artículo; y en base a resultados establecidos que resulta primordial e importante mantener la asistencia de un profesional especializado en psicología, diálogos científicos y motivadores, conjuntamente con atención médica provocarán en la persona afectada la erradicación del consumo de drogas. Constan muchos factores que causan gran influencia negativa en las familias, partiendo de que actualmente el mundo vive la tendencia del consumismo lo que influye en sobremanera que exista menos dialogo en el hogar, la aparición de la tecnología es otra de las situaciones adversas. Los profesionales encargados de brindar orientación familiar deben considerar siempre, que el comportamiento del ser humano debe ser comprendido desde el punto de vista de su forma de pensar, solo así se desarrollara una cultura que permita a las familias tomar las decisiones acertadas al momento de formar a sus hijos, lo que en un futuro se evidenciará como seres útiles a la sociedad. PALABRAS CLAVE: Consumo de drogas; orientación familiar; valores morales.  FAMILY COUNSELING, FOR THE PREVENTION OF DRUG USE IN THIRDYEAR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS  ABSTRACT  The current work addresses one of the most pressing issues of current times such as the high rate of drug use in educational institutions, which greatly affect Ecuadorian society. Its objective is to analyze the guidelines for improving family orientation, and develop appropriate interpersonal relationships that promote family unity, value the principles, and that young people learn to say "no" to a possible proposal to use prohibited drugs, that the only thing that is achieved is to materialize in an unsuitable state before the community, to consider that the consequences for health are devastating, people who at an early age suffer from diseases that in many occasions are very serious, causing discomfort not only their own but also the family. I can mention as contribution of this article; and based on established results that it is essential and important to maintain the assistance of a professional specialized in psychology, scientific and motivational dialogues, together with medical care, will cause the affected person to eradicate drug use. There are many factors that cause great negative influence on families, based on the fact that the world currently lives the trend of consumerism which greatly influences that there is less dialogue at home, the emergence of technology is another of the adverse situations. The professionals responsible for providing family counseling should always consider that the behavior of the human being should be understood from the point of view of their way of thinking, only in this way will a culture be developed that allows families to make the right decisions when forming to their children, which in the future will be evident as useful beings to society. KEYWORDS: drug use; family orientation; moral values.


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