Month: February 2021

The ethical debate on autonomous weapon systems is concentrated on the potential risks and benefits of weapon systems capable of finding, tracing and engaging targets independent of human control. While such systems do not yet exist, there are systems currently in operation and development that possess varying degrees of autonomy. That is why this primer not only discusses the ethical questions related to the potential, future use of autonomous weapon systems but also the questions that can be raised about existing systems with autonomous capabilities.

The ethical debate on autonomous weapon systems is concentrated on the potential risks and benefits of weapon systems capable of finding, tracing and engaging targets independent of human control. While such systems do not yet exist, there are systems currently in operation and development that possess varying degrees of autonomy. That is why this primer not only discusses the ethical questions related to the potential, future use of autonomous weapon systems but also the questions that can be raised about existing systems with autonomous capabilities.