What is the primary ethical concern surrounding the deployment of fully autonomous weapon systems (AWS)?

The primary ethical concern surrounding the deployment of fully autonomous weapon systems (AWS), also known as 'killer robots,' is the potential for these systems to make life-and-death decisions without human intervention, raising serious questions about accountability, compliance with international humanitarian law (IHL), and the erosion of human control over the use of force. A key principle of IHL is the requirement to distinguish between combatants and non-combatants and to minimize harm to civilians. Critics argue that AWS, lacking human judgment and empathy, may be unable to reliably make these distinctions in complex and dynamic battlefield situations, potentially leading to unintended civilian casualties or violations of IHL. Furthermore, if an AWS commits a war crime, it is unclear who should be held accountable – the programmer, the commander, or the system itself? The absence of human oversight in the decision to use lethal force also raises concerns about the erosion of human control over warfare and the potential for unintended escalation or accidental conflict. Allowing machines to make autonomous decisions about who lives and dies is seen by some as a fundamental violation of human dignity and a dangerous step towards dehumanizing warfare.