Download or read book Lethal Autonomous Weapons Laws Take the Human Out of the Loop Argument That Humans Are Inferior to Killer Military Robot Soldiers Saving Lives W written by U. S. Military and published by Independently Published. This book was released on 2019-03-09 with total page 76 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The United States government needs to develop and employ lethal autonomous weapons (LAWS) on the battlefield. There are two main arguments that this paper will explore: first, robots are potentially more proficient than humans on the battlefield and second, the United States needs to employ LAWS because other countries already are and the U.S. needs to set the international example. Humans are inferior to robots in warfare and this paper will discuss historical examples in which humans exercised poor judgment in battle or were incapable of deciding due to the effects of combat. Humans are more expensive than robots and this paper show the economic benefits of employing LAWS. As a superpower, the U.S. needs to develop and employ LAWS to establish international norms and be prepared to propose international agreements. The U.S. is one of two countries that has a policy regarding LAWS and it is vague and over five years old. This paper describes the other countries that are currently developing and employing LAWS. Removing the human from the loop is an under represented argument because of legitimate concerns to include lowering the bar to entry to war, violating human dignity, and hacking. This study explores and ultimately refutes these concerns. Ultimately, the most important reason why LAWS should be adopted is that they will save lives.This compilation includes a reproduction of the 2019 Worldwide Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community.1. Introduction * 2. Main Body (Discussion/analysis) * 3. Humans Are Inferior to Robots Competing in the Global Arms Race * 4. Another Approach (Counter Arguments) * 5. Recommendations and ConclusionA Lethal Autonomous Weapon is a robot that is designed to select and attack military targets without direct intervention by a human operator. The idea of not having a human operator is called "human-out-of-the-loop." Autonomous weapons also have the capability of operating with a "human-in-the-loop" (like a drone and drone operator) or a "human-on-the-loop" in which a human operator supervises the targeting process and can intervene at any time during the cycle. Currently, the U.S. employs both human-in-the-loop and human-on-the-loop weapons in combat. Lethal autonomous Weapons are also called LAWS, LARS (lethal autonomous robots), robotic weapons, or killer robots. For these purposes, LAWS, robots, or lethal autonomous weapon will be used.This study will present a somewhat unrepresented argument, that LAWS should be developed and employed by the United States on the battlefield. There are several premises to support this conclusion. First, humans are overall inferior on the battlefield as compared to robots. Historically humans deal poorly with the traumatic effects of combat resulting in war atrocities, posttraumatic stress disorder, increased veteran suicide and homelessness; robots would not be negatively affected by combat like humans are. Additionally, human soldiers are more expensive in the long run than robots.Second, the United States needs to stay on the cutting edge of technology especially in warfare. History provides examples of the United States using ethically questionable strategies in war such as unrestricted submarine warfare and strategic bombing, both in WWII, without having had the chance to fully examine the potential ramifications of those strategies prior to the heat of conflict. Moreover, other nations are already employing LAWS. The United States needs to lead the development of these weapons in terms of technological capabilities and ethical standards so that an international agreement can be achieved before they are misused by another nation.
Download or read book Lethal Autonomous Weapons written by Amanda Del Re and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 42 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The United States government needs to develop and employ lethal autonomous weapons (LAWS) on the battlefield. There are two main arguments that this paper will explore: first, robots are potentially more proficient than humans on the battlefield and second, the United States needs to employ LAWS because other countries already are and the US needs to set the international example. Humans are inferior to robots in warfare and this paper will discuss historical examples in which humans exercised poor judgment in battle or were incapable of deciding due to the effects of combat. Humans are more expensive than robots and this paper show the economic benefits of employing LAWS. As a superpower, the US needs to develop and employ LAWS to establish international norms and be prepared to propose international agreements. The US is one of two countries that has a policy regarding LAWS and it is vague and over five years old. This paper describes the other countries that are currently developing and employing LAWS. Removing the human from the loop is an under represented argument because of legitimate concerns to include lowering the bar to entry to war, violating human dignity, and hacking. This study explores and ultimately refutes these concerns. Ultimately, the most important reason why LAWS should be adopted is that they will save lives.
Download or read book Lethal Autonomous Weapons written by Jai Galliott and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2021-01-19 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Because of the increasing use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs, also commonly known as drones) in various military and para-military (i.e., CIA) settings, there has been increasing debate in the international community as to whether it is morally and ethically permissible to allow robots (flying or otherwise) the ability to decide when and where to take human life. In addition, there has been intense debate as to the legal aspects, particularly from a humanitarian law framework. In response to this growing international debate, the United States government released the Department of Defense (DoD) 3000.09 Directive (2011), which sets a policy for if and when autonomous weapons would be used in US military and para-military engagements. This US policy asserts that only "human-supervised autonomous weapon systems may be used to select and engage targets, with the exception of selecting humans as targets, for local defense ...". This statement implies that outside of defensive applications, autonomous weapons will not be allowed to independently select and then fire upon targets without explicit approval from a human supervising the autonomous weapon system. Such a control architecture is known as human supervisory control, where a human remotely supervises an automated system (Sheridan 1992). The defense caveat in this policy is needed because the United States currently uses highly automated systems for defensive purposes, e.g., Counter Rocket, Artillery, and Mortar (C-RAM) systems and Patriot anti-missile missiles. Due to the time-critical nature of such environments (e.g., soldiers sleeping in barracks within easy reach of insurgent shoulder-launched missiles), these automated defensive systems cannot rely upon a human supervisor for permission because of the short engagement times and the inherent human neuromuscular lag which means that even if a person is paying attention, there is approximately a half-second delay in hitting a firing button, which can mean the difference for life and death for the soldiers in the barracks. So as of now, no US UAV (or any robot) will be able to launch any kind of weapon in an offensive environment without human direction and approval. However, the 3000.09 Directive does contain a clause that allows for this possibility in the future. This caveat states that the development of a weapon system that independently decides to launch a weapon is possible but first must be approved by the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy (USD(P)); the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics (USD(AT&L)); and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Not all stakeholders are happy with this policy that leaves the door open for what used to be considered science fiction. Many opponents of such uses of technologies call for either an outright ban on autonomous weaponized systems, or in some cases, autonomous systems in general (Human Rights Watch 2013, Future of Life Institute 2015, Chairperson of the Informal Meeting of Experts 2016). Such groups take the position that weapons systems should always be under "meaningful human control," but do not give a precise definition of what this means. One issue in this debate that often is overlooked is that autonomy is not a discrete state, rather it is a continuum, and various weapons with different levels of autonomy have been in the US inventory for some time. Because of these ambiguities, it is often hard to draw the line between automated and autonomous systems. Present-day UAVs use the very same guidance, navigation and control technology flown on commercial aircraft. Tomahawk missiles, which have been in the US inventory for more than 30 years, are highly automated weapons with accuracies of less than a meter. These offensive missiles can navigate by themselves with no GPS, thus exhibiting some autonomy by today's definitions. Global Hawk UAVs can find their way home and land on their own without any human intervention in the case of a communication failure. The growth of the civilian UAV market is also a critical consideration in the debate as to whether these technologies should be banned outright. There is a $144.38B industry emerging for the commercial use of drones in agricultural settings, cargo delivery, first response, commercial photography, and the entertainment industry (Adroit Market Research 2019) More than $100 billion has been spent on driverless car development (Eisenstein 2018) in the past 10 years and the autonomy used in driverless cars mirrors that inside autonomous weapons. So, it is an important distinction that UAVs are simply the platform for weapon delivery (autonomous or conventional), and that autonomous systems have many peaceful and commercial uses independent of military applications"--
Download or read book Autonomous Weapons Systems written by Nehal Bhuta and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2016-09 with total page 421 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This examination of the implications and regulation of autonomous weapons systems combines contributions from law, robotics and philosophy.
Download or read book Killer Robots written by U. C. Jha and published by Vij Books. This book was released on 2016 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides an insight into lethal autonomous weapon systems and debates whether it would be morally correct to give machines the power to decide who lives and who dies on the battlefield.
Download or read book Fighting Machines written by Dan Saxon and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 2021-12-03 with total page 261 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Lethal autonomous weapons are weapon systems that can select and destroy targets without intervention by a human operator. Fighting Machines explores the relationship between lethal autonomous weapons (LAWS), the concept of human dignity, and international law. Much of this analysis speaks to three fundamental and related problems: When a LAWS takes a human life, is that killing a violation of human dignity? Can states and non-state actors use LAWS in accordance with international law? And are there certain responsibilities of human decision-making during wartime that we should not delegate to machines? In the book, Dan Saxon argues that the use of LAWS to take human life constitutes a violation of human dignity. Rather than concentrating on the victims of the use of lethal force, Saxon instead focuses on the technology and relevant legal principles and rules to advance several propositions. First, as LAWS operate at increasingly greater speeds, their use will undermine the opportunities for, and the value of, human reasoning and judgment. Second, by transferring responsibility for reasoning and judgment about the use of lethal force to computer software, the use of LAWS violates the dignity of the soldiers, commanders, and law enforcement officers who historically have made such decisions, and, therefore, breaches international law. Third, weapon designs that facilitate teamwork between humans and autonomous systems are necessary to ensure that humans and LAWS can operate interdependently so that individuals can fulfil their obligations under international law—including the preservation of their own dignity—and ensure that human reasoning and judgment are available for cognitive functions better suited to humans than machines. Fighting Machines speaks to the fields of international humanitarian law, human rights, criminal law, and legal philosophy. It will also be of interest to non-lawyers, especially military officers, government policy makers, political scientists, and international relations scholars, as well as roboticists and ethicists.
Download or read book Autonomous Weapons Systems and International Norms written by Ingvild Bode and published by McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. This book was released on 2022-01-15 with total page 179 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Autonomous weapons systems seem to be on the path to becoming accepted technologies of warfare. The weaponization of artificial intelligence raises questions about whether human beings will maintain control of the use of force. The notion of meaningful human control has become a focus of international debate on lethal autonomous weapons systems among members of the United Nations: many states have diverging ideas about various complex forms of human-machine interaction and the point at which human control stops being meaningful. In Autonomous Weapons Systems and International Norms Ingvild Bode and Hendrik Huelss present an innovative study of how testing, developing, and using weapons systems with autonomous features shapes ethical and legal norms, and how standards manifest and change in practice. Autonomous weapons systems are not a matter for the distant future – some autonomous features, such as in air defence systems, have been in use for decades. They have already incrementally changed use-of-force norms by setting emerging standards for what counts as meaningful human control. As UN discussions drag on with minimal progress, the trend towards autonomizing weapons systems continues. A thought-provoking and urgent book, Autonomous Weapons Systems and International Norms provides an in-depth analysis of the normative repercussions of weaponizing artificial intelligence.
Download or read book Army of None Autonomous Weapons and the Future of War written by Paul Scharre and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2018-04-24 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the 2019 William E. Colby Award "The book I had been waiting for. I can't recommend it highly enough." —Bill Gates The era of autonomous weapons has arrived. Today around the globe, at least thirty nations have weapons that can search for and destroy enemy targets all on their own. Paul Scharre, a leading expert in next-generation warfare, describes these and other high tech weapons systems—from Israel’s Harpy drone to the American submarine-hunting robot ship Sea Hunter—and examines the legal and ethical issues surrounding their use. “A smart primer to what’s to come in warfare” (Bruce Schneier), Army of None engages military history, global policy, and cutting-edge science to explore the implications of giving weapons the freedom to make life and death decisions. A former soldier himself, Scharre argues that we must embrace technology where it can make war more precise and humane, but when the choice is life or death, there is no replacement for the human heart.
Download or read book Killer Robots written by U. C. Jha and published by Vij Books India. This book was released on 2016 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nearly 45 countries are at different stages of developing robotic weapons or lethal autonomous weapon systems (LAWS). The United States, for example, has recently test launched its robotic vessel Sea Hunter, a self-driving, 132-foot ship designed to travel thousands of miles without a single crew member on board. As reported, the vessel has the capability to detect and destroy stealth diesel-electric submarines and sea mines. However, though the militaries of the developed countries are in a race to develop LAWS to perform varied functions on the battlefield, a large section of robotic engineers, ethical analysts, and legal experts are of the firm belief that robotic weapons will never meet the standards of distinction and proportionality required by the laws of war, and therefore will be illegal. This book provides an insight into lethal autonomous weapon systems and debates whether it would be morally correct to give machines the power to decide who lives and who dies on the battlefield.
Download or read book Ethics and Autonomous Weapons written by Alex Leveringhaus and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-05-18 with total page 136 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is amongst the first academic treatments of the emerging debate on autonomous weapons. Autonomous weapons are capable, once programmed, of searching for and engaging a target without direct intervention by a human operator. Critics of these weapons claim that ‘taking the human out-of-the-loop’ represents a further step towards the de-humanisation of warfare, while advocates of this type of technology contend that the power of machine autonomy can potentially be harnessed in order to prevent war crimes. This book provides a thorough and critical assessment of these two positions. Written by a political philosopher at the forefront of the autonomous weapons debate, the book clearly assesses the ethical and legal ramifications of autonomous weapons, and presents a novel ethical argument against fully autonomous weapons.
Download or read book The Legality and Accountability of Autonomous Weapon Systems written by Afonso Seixas-Nunes and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2022-05-19 with total page 287 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By adopting a multi-disciplinary approach, this book provides a comprehensive analysis of the legality of the use of autonomous weapons systems under international law. It examines different arguments presented by States, roboticists and scholars to demonstrate the challenges such systems will create for the laws of war. This study examines how technology of warfare seeks to increase the dissociation of risk and communication between weapons and their human operators. Furthermore, it explains how algorithms might give rise to 'errors' on the battlefield that cannot be directly attributed to human operators. Against this backdrop, Dr Seixas-Nunes examines three distinct legal frameworks: the distinction between the legality of weapons and the laws of targeting; different mechanisms of individual accountability and the importance of recovering the category of 'dolus eventualis' for programmers and technicians and, finally, State responsibility for violations of the laws of war caused by weapons' software errors.
Download or read book U S Ground Forces Robotics and Autonomous Systems Ras and Artificial Intelligence Ai written by Jennifer K. Elsea and published by Independently Published. This book was released on 2018-12-04 with total page 50 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The nexus of robotics and autonomous systems (RAS) and artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to change the nature of warfare. RAS offers the possibility of a wide range of platforms-not just weapon systems-that can perform "dull, dangerous, and dirty" tasks- potentially reducing the risks to soldiers and Marines and possibly resulting in a generation of less expensive ground systems. Other nations, notably peer competitors Russia and China, are aggressively pursuing RAS and AI for a variety of military uses, raising considerations about the U.S. military's response-to include lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS)-that could be used against U.S. forces. The adoption of RAS and AI by U.S. ground forces carries with it a number of possible implications, including potentially improved performance and reduced risk to soldiers and Marines; potential new force designs; better institutional support to combat forces; potential new operational concepts; and possible new models for recruiting and retaining soldiers and Marines. The Army and Marines have developed and are executing RAS and AI strategies that articulate near-, mid-, and long-term priorities. Both services have a number of RAS and AI efforts underway and are cooperating in a number of areas. A fully manned, capable, and well-trained workforce is a key component of military readiness. The integration of RAS and AI into military units raises a number of personnel-related issues that may be of interest to Congress, including unit manning changes, recruiting and retention of those with advanced technical skills, training, and career paths. RAS and AI are anticipated to be incorporated into a variety of military applications, ranging from logistics and maintenance, personnel management, intelligence, and planning to name but a few. In this regard, most consider it unlikely that appreciable legal and ethical objections to their use by the military will be raised. The most provocative question concerning the military application of RAS and AI being actively debated by academics, legal scholars, policymakers, and military officials is that of "killer robots" (i.e., should autonomous robotic weapon systems be permitted to take human life?). Potential issues for Congress include the following: Would an assessment of foreign military RAS and AI efforts and the potential impact on U.S. ground forces benefit policymakers? Should the United States develop fully autonomous weapon systems for ground forces? How will U.S. ground forces counter foreign RAS and AI capabilities? How should the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Services engage with the private sector? What are some of the personnel-related concerns associated with RAS and AI? What role should Congress play in the legal and ethical debate on LAWS? What role should the United States play in potential efforts to regulate LAWS?
Download or read book Dehumanization of Warfare written by Wolff Heintschel von Heinegg and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-12-28 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book addresses the technological evolution of modern warfare due to unmanned systems and the growing capacity for cyberwarfare. The increasing involvement of unmanned means and methods of warfare can lead to a total removal of humans from the navigation, command and decision-making processes in the control of unmanned systems, and as such away from participation in hostilities – the “dehumanization of warfare.” This raises the question of whether and how today’s law is suitable for governing the dehumanization of warfare effectively. Which rules are relevant? Do interpretations of relevant rules need to be reviewed or is further and adapted regulation necessary? Moreover, ethical reasoning and computer science developments also have to be taken into account in identifying problems. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach the book focuses primarily on international humanitarian law, with related ethics and computer science aspects included in the discussion and the analysis.
Download or read book Asleep at the Switch How Killer Robots Become a Force Multiplier of Military Necessity written by Ian R. Kerr and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Lethal autonomous weapons -- machines that might one day target and kill people without human intervention or oversight -- are gaining attention on the world stage. While their development, deployment and perceived superiority over human soldiers are presumed to be inevitable, this book chapter challenges the received view, arguing that the adoption of these technologies are indeed evitable. After canvassing the state of the art in robotic warfare and the military advantages that autonomous weapons confer, the authors aim to scratch below the surface level success of robotic warfare and consider the drastic effects its implementation can have on international humanitarian law, adherence to humanitarian principles, and notions of technological neutrality. International humanitarian law governs the use of particular weapons and advancing technologies to ensure that the imperative of humanity modulates how war is waged. Based on the interest of protecting civilians, military actions are therefore restricted through compliance with humanitarian principles, including proportionality between collateral injuries and military advantages, discrimination between combatants and non-combatants, and military necessity for reaching concrete objectives. This chapter suggests that serious and catastrophic consequences become foreseeable when robots are given full autonomy to pull the trigger in complicated and context-dependent situations, and that technological neutrality is not a safe presumption. The authors also argue that when a disruptive technology changes the nature of what is possible, there is a corresponding expansion in the scope of inclusion for what can prospectively be perceived of as “necessary,” allowing lethal autonomous robots to become a force multiplier of military necessity. Ultimately, the authors ask their readers to consider the full and real consequences of a future with lethal autonomous robots, when the power to implement them lies in the hands of those who have not fully come to terms with their implications.
Download or read book Autonomous Weapon Systems written by Jeffrey L. Caton and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2015 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "What does the Department of Defense hope to gain from the use of autonomous weapon systems (AWS)? This Letort Paper explores a diverse set of complex issues related to the developmental, operational, legal, and ethical aspects of AWS. It explores the recent history of the development and integration of autonomous and semi-autonomous systems into traditional military operations. It examines anticipated expansion of these roles in the near future as well as outlines international efforts to provide a context for the use of the systems by the United States. As these topics are well-documented in many sources, this Paper serves as a primer for current and future AWS operations to provide senior policymakers, decisionmakers, military leaders, and their respective staffs an overall appreciation of existing capabilities and the challenges, opportunities, and risks associated with the use of AWS across the range of military operations. Emphasis is added to missions and systems that include the use of deadly force"--Publisher's web site.
Download or read book Genius Weapons written by Louis A. Del Monte and published by Prometheus Books. This book was released on 2018-11-06 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A technology expert describes the ever-increasing role of artificial intelligence in weapons development, the ethical dilemmas these weapons pose, and the potential threat to humanity. Artificial intelligence is playing an ever-increasing role in military weapon systems. Going beyond the bomb-carrying drones used in the Afghan war, the Pentagon is now in a race with China and Russia to develop "lethal autonomous weapon systems" (LAWS). In this eye-opening overview, a physicist, technology expert, and former Honeywell executive examines the advantages and the potential threats to humanity resulting from the deployment of completely autonomous weapon systems. Stressing the likelihood that these weapons will be available in the coming decades, the author raises key questions about how the world will be impacted. Though using robotic systems might lessen military casualties in a conflict, one major concern is: Should we allow machines to make life-and-death decisions in battle? Other areas of concern include the following: Who would be accountable for the actions of completely autonomous weapons--the programmer, the machine itself, or the country that deploys LAWS? When warfare becomes just a matter of technology, will war become more probable, edging humanity closer to annihilation? What if AI technology reaches a "singularity level" so that our weapons are controlled by an intelligence exceeding human intelligence? Using vivid scenarios that immerse the reader in the ethical dilemmas and existential threats posed by lethal autonomous weapon systems, the book reveals that the dystopian visions of such movies as The Terminator and I, Robot may become a frightening reality in the near future. The author concludes with concrete recommendations, founded in historical precedent, to control this new arms race.
Download or read book Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems in Future Conflicts written by Ted Schroeder and published by . This book was released on 2017-03-10 with total page 105 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The conversation on Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems (LAWS) centers on the ethics of allowing a computer to decide to kill (or not to kill) a human-being. Much of the current discourse on the topic of autonomous weapons comes from a concern over the ethical implications. Over the coming fifteen years, the technology industry will achieve many milestones that will significantly alter the argument about the use of LAWS. There are currently efforts to institute laws and regulations that will inhibit or remove the use of LAWS. This research will clarify what will be technically possible in the future and take a holistic look at the topic. This study will explore the current technological abilities of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its impacts on civil society. It will further look at AI and its impact on lethal weapons. Ad-ditionally, the study will explore the acceptance of AI in civil society verse the acceptance of AI in conflict. Such exploration is important as the newer technology may change the conversation about the ethics of employing robotics. This conversational change may encourage or even compel policymakers to use LAWS in future conflicts.
