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CAMPAIGN FOCUS

AUTONOMOUS WEAPONS

What are autonomous weapons?

Autonomous weapons are weapons that can select and engage a target without human intervention. Examples include armed quadcopters with autonomous capabilities and remote controlled weaponry systems (e.g. drones).

There are 3 ways human involvement in autonomous weapons is categorized:

  1. In the loop - Weapons that can autonomously identify a target but need human intervention before attacking

  2. On the loop - Weapons that can engage and attack people autonomously but are under human observance

  3. Out of the loop: Weapons that can identify, engage and attack without any human involvement

Using autonomous weapons has advantages..

  • Keep humans off of the battlefield

  • Perform procedures that humans cannot (e.g. high-G maneuvers in aircraft)

  • Coordinate more complex procedures (e.g. send 50 drones at once to respond to enemy mortars)

  • Do not require continuous communication with a centralized command

...but there are many concerns with their use.

  • Autonomous weapons cannot appropriately identify targets and calculate collateral damage, and there is no evidence that they will be able to do so in the future.

  • Can be hacked

  • Difficult to know that what the machine does matches the programmer's intentions

  • Lack of clarity on why a system made a certain choice

  • There is a moral sense that humans must always be involved in life or death situations.

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