From tools of violence to machines of uncertainty: mapping public perceptions of autonomous weapon systems and manual weapon systems

Abstract Autonomous weapon systems (AWS) are emerging technologies capable of selecting and engaging targets without direct human control, raising profound ethical, legal, and political concerns. Yet, little is known about how the public conceptualizes AWS, despite the relevance of public conscience for international humanitarian law and national policy-making. This study examines Austrian representations of AWS in comparison with manual weapon systems (MWS), using a within-subjects free-word association task ( N = 200) analyzed through content analysis, Hierarchical Evocation Method (HEM), Multidimensional Scaling (MDS), Mantel tests, and Procrustes analyses. Findings reveal that MWS are coherently represented around pragmatic and destructive functions, whereas the central core of the AWS representation is dominated by the category ‘Unknown’. This suggests that respondents are largely unable to anchor AWS to familiar cognitive, moral, or technological schemas. Structural analyses confirm this finding, indicating AWS and MWS to constitute distinct representational fields. These results highlight the cognitive indeterminacy of AWS, illustrating how uncertainty shapes public reasoning and raising implications for democratic legitimacy and international governance.