Lethal Autonomous Weapons: The Urgent Need for International Regulation

The use of these weapons poses serious ethical risks and risks of violations of humanitarian law: these technologies can inadvertently attack civilians, non-military infrastructure (such as schools, hospitals and homes), and medical and humanitarian aid convoys due to system errors. Moreover, their indiscriminate use can prolong armed conflicts or cause them to break out again, and lead to humanitarian crises, as well as digital dehumanisation, because technologies are not able to generate ethical reasoning, distinguish between military targets and civilian infrastructure, or recognise human beings as such.