Morele verantwoordelijkheid en controle in autonome oorlogsvoering. Een analyse van de verantwoordelijkheidskloof in dodelijke autonome wapensystemen

The growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) across various applications is giving rise to significant ethical challenges, particularly in the military domain. A central issue in both academic and policy debates in recent years has been the difficulty of assigning moral and legal responsibility for the actions of autonomous military technologies. This dissertation seeks to address these challenges by exploring the ethical and legal implications of responsibility attribution in the context of lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS). The research is structured in two parts: the first offers a descriptive and philosophical analysis of the so-called responsibility gap, while the second evaluates potential solutions, focusing on the doctrine of command responsibility. Key findings highlight that debates surrounding responsibility gaps are more comlex and nuanced than they might initially appear, often shaped by underlying assumptions. Furthermore, the research challenges exaggerated perceptions of the autonomous capabilities of LAWS, showing that human control -although necessary for attributing moral responsibility- can be less strict than commonly expected. This research aims to advance a deeper understanding of how moral responsibility can and should be attributed to increasingly autonomous military systems. It contributes to the broader ethical discourse surrounding the use of AI in military applications and offers insights that may inform policy discussions regarding the governance of AI in the military domain.