Ethics, autonomy, and killer drones: Can machines do right?

Abstract

AbstractAs technology advances, machines will increasingly serve as moral arbiters of difficult and convoluted war tasks. Humanity is already in the dawn of the “Autonomous Revolution” and ethical questions and considerations regarding the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in war cannot be delayed. The use of AI-enabled weaponized drones is a microcosm of the issues that arise. The purpose of this paper is to create and sustain a discussion of the ethics of emerging defense technologies by considering them in the context of mainstream ethical frameworks, analyzing the U.S.’s decision-making and moral justifications to date, and discussing what ethics should be instilled in AI-enabled military drones themselves, if indeed the U.S. decides to further pursue them. AcknowledgmentsThe author thanks Kerry M. Kartchner for his insight on developing the policy options for this article.Disclosure statementThe author reports there are no competing interests to declare.Notes1 Genesis 3:22 (NIV).2 Stephen Hummel and F. John Burpo, “Small Groups, Big Weapons: The Nexus of Emerging Technologies and Weapons of Mass Destruction Terrorism,” Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, April 2020, https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/AD1100991.pdf, 12.3 Edmund F. 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He is interested in Middle Eastern security challenges and the nexus of emerging technologies and national defense.