Autonomous weapon systems could bypass humans

The research and reporting arm of Congress says it’s only a matter of time before the U.S. and its adversaries have Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems, reports Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin.

The only requirement for the systems at the moment is that human commanders have “appropriate” control, meaning deciding when and where they are deployed.

But not when the systems make a determination to kill and destroy.

It’s the Congressional Research Service that issued a defense primer on U.S. policy on the systems.

The policy requires that all systems, including Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems, or LAWS, be designed to “allow commanders and operators to exercise appropriate levels of human judgment over the use of force.”

The CRS said: “As noted in an August 2018 U.S. government white paper, ‘appropriate’ is a flexible term that reflects the fact that there is not a fixed, one-size-fits-all level of human judgment that should be applied to every context. What is ‘appropriate’ can differ across weapon systems, domains of warfare, types of warfare, operational contexts, and even across different functions in a weapon system.

“Furthermore, ‘human judgment over the use of force’ does not require manual human ‘control’ of the weapon system, as is often reported, but rather broader human involvement in decisions about how, when, where, and why the weapon will be employed. This includes a human determination that the weapon will be used ‘with appropriate care and in accordance with the law of war, applicable treaties, weapon system safety rules, and applicable rules of engagement,'” the report said.

“To aid this determination, [policy] requires that [a]dequate training, [tactics, techniques, and procedures], and doctrine are available, periodically reviewed, and used by system operators and commandeers to understand the functioning, capabilities, and limitations of the system’s autonomy in realistic operational conditions.’ The directive also requires that the weapon’s human-machine interface be ‘readily understandable to trained operators’ so they can make informed decisions regarding the weapon’s use.”

For the rest of this report, and more, please go to Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin.

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