Publication

This paper clarifies the relationship between machine autonomy, lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS), and the UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons. The text’s author specifically looks at 1) existing concepts of autonomy and how they apply to weapon systems; 2) how autonomous weapons actually work; 3) the status of the technologies that make LAWS possible; and 4) how all these factors might impact future international discussions on lethal autonomous systems.