Autonomous Weapons Systems and International Norms

297 Pages·2022·18.867 MB·English

by  Hendrik Huelss, Ingvild Bode

autonomous weapons systems
and international norms

Autonomous
Weapons Systems
and International
Norms
ingvild bode and
hendrik huelss
McGill- Queen’s University Press
Montreal & Kingston • London • Chicago
© McGill-Queen’s University Press 2022
ISBN 978-0-2280-0808-8 (cloth)
ISBN 978-0-2280-0809-5 (paper)
ISBN 978-0-2280-0924-5 (ePDF)
ISBN 978-0-2280-0925-2 (ePUB)
Legal deposit first quarter 2022
Bibliothèque nationale du Québec
Printed in Canada on acid-free paper that is 100% ancient forest free
(100% post-consumer recycled), processed chlorine free
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Title: Autonomous weapons systems and international norms /
Ingvild Bode and Hendrik Huelss.
Names: Bode, Ingvild, author. | Huelss, Hendrik, author.
Description: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 20210306270 | Canadiana (ebook)
20210307358 | ISBN 9780228008095 (softcover) |
ISBN 9780228008088 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780228009245 (ePDF) |
ISBN 9780228009252 (ePUB)
Subjects: LCSH: Autonomous weapons systems. | LCSH: Autonomous
weapons systems (International law) | LCSH: Autonomous weapons
systems—Moral and ethical aspects. | LCSH: International relations. |
LCSH: Security, International. | LCSH: Artificial intelligence—Military
applications. | LCSH: Artificial intelligence—Moral and ethical aspects. |
LCSH: Weapons systems—Technological innovations. | LCSH: Weapons
systems—Technological innovations—Moral and ethical aspects.
Classification: LCC KZ5645.5.A98 B63 2022 | DDC 341.6/3—dc23
This book was typeset in 10.5/13 New Baskerville ITC Pro.
Contents
Tables and figures vii
Acknowledgements ix
Abbreviations xi
Introduction 3
1 Autonomous Weapons Systems and
International Relations 16
2 New Technologies of Warfare:
Emergence and Regulation 60
3 International Law, Norms, and Order 102
4 Norms in International Relations 132
5 How Autonomous Weapons Systems Make Norms 156
Conclusion 211
Notes 225
References 231
Index 271

Tables and Figures
tables
1.1 Selected weapons systems with automated or autonomous
features in their critical functions. 18
1.2 Spectrum of autonomy. 26
2.1 Articles 48, 49, 50 of the 1909 London Declaration. 64
2.2 Treaty relating to the Use of Submarines and Noxious Gases
in Warfare, Washington Naval Conference 1922. 67
2.3 Limitation and Reduction of Naval Armament (London
Naval Treaty), London Naval Conference 1930. 68
2.4 Declaration (IV,2) concerning Asphyxiating Gases, 1899 The
Hague Peace Conference. 72
2.5 Washington Treaty 1922, Article 5. 73
2.6 Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of
Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other Gases, and of
Bacteriological Methods of Warfare, Geneva, 17 June 1925. 74
2.7 Convention on the Prohibition of the Development,
Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and
on their Destruction. 76
2.8 Partial Test Ban Treaty 1963, Article I. 83
2.9 Key elements of the NPT’s non-proliferation dimension. 84
2.10 The NPT’s disarmament dimension. 85
viii Tables and Figures
2.11 The NPT’s peaceful use of nuclear energy dimension. 86
2.12 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, Article I. 89
2.13 Proposals for CCW Protocol by Sweden and the ICRC. 91
2.14 UN-CCW Protocol on Blinding Laser Weapons, Articles 1–4. 92
3.1 Diverging attribution thresholds. 118
4.1 Norm types. 144
5.1 Operational definitions of meaningful human control. 162
5.2 Levels of human control. 163
5.3 Sequencing of an air defence system operation. 171
5.4 Two perspectives of appropriateness. 199
5.5 Arguments made to support the appropriateness of
integrating automated and autonomous features into air
defence systems. 200
figures
1.1 NATO’s Joint Targeting Cycle. (Source: NATO (2016,
Section 2-2.) 28
1.2 Formal contributions to debates on LAWS at the CCW
(2014–20). (Source: Bode (2019) and authors’ 2020
calculations.) 32
1.3 Humanoid killer robots (top) versus X-47B demonstrator
with autonomous features (bottom). (Sources: Mykola
Holyutyak/Shutterstock; US Navy via Wikipedia.) 58
3.1 Relationship between international law and normative
order. 114
3.2 Emergence of contested areas outside of current normative
order. 130
Acknowledgements
The journey of writing this book began in late 2017 when we devel-
oped initial ideas for a manuscript that would give us more space
and freedom than conventional research articles to develop our
research agenda on autonomous weapons systems and norms.
While our endeavour took some (unexpected) diversions such as
the arrival of our son, Espen, moving institutions and countries as
well as a pandemic, the book is the result of four years of reflection
on the normative dimension of the AI revolution in warfare. We are
grateful for the support we received from our colleagues, friends,
and families throughout this process.
For discussions and intellectual exchange, we are thankful to the
small community of researchers on technology, norms, and war-
fare that we have had the pleasure to meet: especially Maya Brehm,
Merel Ekelhof, Mathias Leese, Elvira Rosert, Frank Sauer, Birgit
Schippers, Elke Schwarz, and Maaike Verbruggen as well as the
participants of the EWIS Groningen and Belfast workshops on tech-
nologies, ‘killer robots’, and security in 2018. Also, we want to thank
the diplomats, civil society representatives, practitioners, UN staff,
and AI specialists for the time they spent on talking to us, thereby
giving us important insights into the practical-political debate on
autonomous weapons systems.
We are grateful for the excellent support that we have received
from Denise Garcia ever since she attended our first paper presenta-
tion on autonomous weapons systems at the ISA 2017 in Baltimore.
This support continued into the completion stage of this book, where
her constructive comments, as well as those of a second, anonym-
ous reviewer, helped to sharpen our arguments. We also want thank
Tom Watts for his research support, especially for digging deep into