Facing the Brave New World of Killer Robots: Adapting the Development of Autonomous Weapons Systems into the Framework of the International Law of War

AuthorRoni Elias
PositionFlorida A&M University College of Law
Pages101-126
e Indonesian Journal of International & Comparative Law
ISSN: 2338-7602; E-ISSN: 2338-770X
http://www.ijil.org
© 2014 e Institute for Migrant Rights Press
I would like to express my Sincere Appreciation for the entire Florida A&M, College of Law
faculty & sta. Especially, I am so blessed and greatly appreciate the love of my life, M.G.S,
for making my heart smile everyday! I also would like to thank & appreciate Dr. Elmira
Mangum, Distinguished Educator of the Year, President, Florida A&M University & Provost
& Vice-President for Academic Aairs and Professor of Law, Marcella David. is article is
dedicated to my parents, Dr.’s Aida & Adil Elias, my First Great Teachers In Life. I am truly
grateful to the best brother anyone could be blessed to have, my brother, Pierre. To the Indo-
nesian Journal of International and Comparative Law, a heartfelt ank You and Gratitude
for your eorts, and laser sharp attention to detail.
faCing tHE BravE nEw world of
KillEr roBots
adaPting tHE dEvEloPmEnt of autonomous wEaPons
systEms into tHE framEworK of tHE intErnational law
of war
Roni A. Elias
Florida A&M University College of Law
E-mail: roni@leroyalusa.com
Many nations have developed weapons system with an advanced capacity for
identifying targets and for making their own decisions about when to re. ese
systems include both anti-missile defense systems and border-patrolling robotic
sentries. As weapons technology becomes more sophisticated, and as computers
continue to progress rapidly in their capacity for processing and analyzing in-
formation, it seems more and more possible that a country could develop some-
thing like a “killer robot,” a machine with the power to kill and the independent
capacity to identify targets and to decide when to engage them. is prospect
creates the possibility of a real-life version of the killer robots portrayed in the
series of Terminator lms, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Weapon systems capable of some level of autonomous decision-making have
the potential to transform armed conict, not only in a technical and strategic
sense, but also in a legal one. e existing international law of armed conict
and principles of international human rights impose signicant restrictions on
how weapons can be used. And a foundational premise of that international
III Indonesian Journal of International & Comparative Law 101-26 (January 2016)
102
Elias
legal regime is the presumption that there is a human being with the capacity for
moral judgment in control of the weapon.
ere is an emerging debate about whether the existing structure of inter-
national law can be adapted to the inclusion of autonomous weapon systems.
Some participants in this debate contend that autonomous weapon systems can-
not be deployed without destroying the human moral agency that is required for
compliance with international law. Others contend that autonomous weapon
systems dier from other kinds of weapons only in small details, not in essential
moral character, and that they can be eectively regulated just like any other
weapon.
is paper examines the current state of development of autonomous weap-
on systems, the existing international law regulating the use of weapons in armed
conict, and the debate about the risks and benets of integrating autonomous
weapon systems into contemporary warfare. On the basis of this examination, it
considers what is essential for continued compliance with the guiding principles
of international law and about what methods may be adapted to assure that this
law evolves with weapons technology. is paper concludes that autonomous
weapon systems can only conform to the principles of international law if they
are ultimately guided in some respect by a human being who can be morally
accountable for how the weapon is used.
Keywords: Law of Wars, Law and Technology, Law and Ethics, International Crimi-
nal Responsibility, International Law.
I. INTRODUCTION
Science ction and fantasy have long provided stories about “killer ro-
bots,” machines with the power to kill and the independent capacity to
identify targets and to decide when to engage them. Perhaps the most
popular of these stories was represented in the trilogy of Terminator
lms, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as a time travelling robot dis-
patched by an evil government as an assassin. In the end, the Termi-
nator’s capacity for independent thinking was suciently great that he
could reject the instructions programmed into his central processing
unit and turn on the other autonomous robots which had sent him on
his mission in the rst place. In a sense, these lms both celebrated and
condemned the capacities of autonomous killing machines, showing
both the benets and the dangers that they were capable of creating.

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