Author: Rain Liivoja, Eve Massingham, Tim McFarland and Simon McKenziePublished: 09/09/2020Category: External resourcesLast updated: 29/08/2022

The incorporation of autonomous functions in weapon systems has generated a robust ethical and legal debate. In this short piece, we outline the international law framework that applies to the use of autonomous weapon systems (AWS) to deliver force in an armed conflict. This publication explains some of the reasons why using an AWS to deliver force is legally controversial and set out some of the ways in which international law constrains the use of autonomy in weapons. Importantly, it explains why users of AWS are legally required to be reasonably confident about how they will operate before deploying them. Under current law, combatants can rely on complex weapon systems, including AWS, if they can do so consistently with their LOAC obligations. This means a lot rides on just how confident the combatant is that the weapon will behave as expected in the circumstances of use. The potential complexity of AWS raises some thorny technical, ethical and legal questions. At its heart, delegation of the use of force to an autonomous system requires those that decide to deploy them understand the consequences of their operation in the environment of use. This means that there will be no clear-cut answers, and the legality of a decision to deploy an AWS will depend on the context.

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Publication details: Liivoja, R., Massingham, E. McFarland, T. & McKenzie, S. (2020). Are Autonomous Weapons Systems Prohibited? Trusted Autonomous Systems Blog. https://tasdcrc.com.au/are-autonomous-weapons-systems-prohibited/