Semi-Autonomous Weapon Systems in International Humanitarian Law

Abstract: The purpose of my Master Thesis is to examine, in detail, how current international law relates to autonomous weapon systems. The background for this project is that the requirement of current international humanitarian law presupposes that the characters of war, namely soldiers and military officers, are human beings. Warfare has, however, changed increasingly since the Geneva Conventions were written in August 1949. War is now increasingly fought with machines or virtual networks that are somehow controlled by humans, and this method of warfare is here to stay. Artificial intelligence has made war-machines less dependent on human control and thus more autonomous. The use of autonomous weapon systems will cause difficulties in establishing responsibility for the implementation of humanitarian law when numerous individuals are involved, and when the actor is a robot. The question of accountability is therefore essential since this issue will arise in the framework of all fully autonomous and semiautonomous weapon systems. The concept of autonomous weapon systems (AWS) will be defined more precisely alongside three different forms of autonomy in order to demonstrate its compliance with current international law. The analysis will begin from the bottom of the decision-making process to gradually eliminate all candidates who do not have sufficient knowledge to assume accountability. The candidates that will be observed are the military personnel, the acquisition team, the programmer or manufacturer, corporations, and lastly, the robot. Each chapter will build upon the next and include a descriptive part in the beginning with an analysis toward the end of the thesis. Parallels will be drawn between the new legal phenomenon and existing legal systems. The thesis will later lead to the conclusion that States cannot absolve themselves of their obligations under international humanitarian law when deploying autonomous weapon systems on the field. The State will still remain responsible for ensuring that relevant and fundamental standards are met and that international law is respected. The thesis will also argue that there is no fully autonomous AWS existing at the present time, and AWSes can therefore not itself be held accountable for crimes under international law. Nevertheless, this new character of warfare will bring real challenges for military commanders, not least in how to manage the information to ensure proper conduct but also to maintain discipline amongst subordinates. An effective system of accountability for autonomous weapon systems is when the lines for responsibility are well defined. To the extent that the autonomy of semi-autonomous causes gaps in current accountability instruments, it will be argued that the gaps can be filled through establishment of a new framework of command responsibility with a technical expert as a vital subordinate.