Abstract:
Killer robots invoke scenes that belong in the realm of science fiction. However, weaponised artificial intelligence is making them a real possibility but perhaps not as sentient and evil as science fiction portrays. Weapons that possess autonomous features have been around for a number of decades in anti-material roles but their use in combat directed towards humans has now been documented for the first time. The advancement in artificial intelligence and robotics, especially in the civilian domain, has enabled the development of these weapons. However, how these weapons should be treated within the field of international law is still heavily debated. There are valid arguments to both the legality and illegality of these weapons in the current body of international law with no clear way forward. These weapons also pose complex ethical issues within the moral dimension of warfare, with views ranging from the argument that the development of these weapons is a moral imperative to the argument that they go completely against the morality of war and should be banned. Previous attempts at arms control have yielded successful results with a number of problematic weapons and similar results can be attempted in this instance with civil society leading the charge. This research explores all the dimensions related to the development and use of Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems from a technological, legal, ethical, and regulatory perspective, concluding that the use of these weapons is likely to increase in the coming years, thus necessitating the urgent development of legal, ethical, and regulatory frameworks to adapt to this new reality.
