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AI and Autonomy in Weapons: War and Conflict out of Control?

Dear readers, the first issue of “Ethics and Armed Forces” was published ten years ago. We are therefore revisiting the topic of that issue – “Anonymous Killing by new Technologies? The Soldier between Conscience and Machine”. In addition to the happy occasion, there is another reason for this decision: Even if not every argument in the debate about so-called autonomous weapon systems (AWS) is new, there have been significant developments, especially in recent times.

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Advocating for A Legally Binding Instrument on Autonomous Weapons Systems: Which Way Ahead

Catherine Connolly

The obstructive attitude of a few states should not continue to prevent binding regulations under international law

Summary Full article

Autonomous Weapons Systems – Current International Discussions

Andreas Bilgeri

We have to determine and shape technological change in warfare ourselves

Full article

Digital Escalation Potential: How Does AI Operate at the Limits of Reason?

Axel Siegemund

The military use of AI requires well-founded trust in the system and the ability to intervene at any time

Summary Full article

AI for the Armed Forces Does not Need a Special Morality! A brief argument concerning the regulation of autonomous weapons systems

Erny Gillen

In the negotiations on the regulation of lethal autonomous weapons systems, one basic principle could point the way forward

Full article

Human Dignity and “Autonomous” Robotics: What is the Problem?

Bernhard Koch

Digitized killing undermines considerations of human dignity from the outset

Summary Full article

Burden of Proof in the Autonomous Weapons Debate – Why Ban Advocates Have Not Met It (Yet)

Maciek Zając

States must not be denied a potential military advantage based on insufficient arguments

Summary Full article

Reliability Standards for (Autonomous) Weapons: The Enduring Relevance of Humans

Nathan Wood

General statements about the reliability of weapon systems neglect too many contextual factors

Summary Full article

Is There a Right to Use Military Force Below the Threshold of War? Emerging Technologies and the Debate Surrounding jus ad vim

Bernhard Koch

Technical superiority should not entail moral arrogance

Summary Full article

“Meaningful Human Control” and Complex Human-Machine Assemblages – On the Limits of Ethical AI Principles in the Context of Autonomous Weapons Systems

Jens Hälterlein
Jutta Weber

The „fog of war“ does not get any thinner with autonomous systems

Summary Full article

Humanity in War? The Importance of Meaningful Human Control for the Regulation of Autonomous Weapons Systems

Susanne Beck
Schirin Barlag

Meaningful human control must be operationalized for legal and ethical reasons

Summary Full article

Meaningful Human Control of Autonomous Systems

Daniel Giffhorn
Reinhard Gerndt

The gray area between rule compliance and mission fulfillment must be explored

Summary Full article

AI in the Age of Distrust

Henning Lahmann

We need suitable measures to fight disinformation

Summary Full article

Special: Military, Man, Machine

“If you do without superior technologies, you forgo the ability to act in an ethically responsible way”

Ansgar Rieks
Wolfgang Koch

Humans will always remain responsible, but the network of responsibilities will change with the use of AI

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“The method of death matters because it reflects the values and principles of the society that permits it”

ChatGPT

Humanity’s ethical compass should never get overridden by unfeeling algorithms

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