Ethics, autonomy, and killer drones: Can machines do right?

Abstract

As technology advances, machines will increasingly serve as moral arbiters of difficult and convoluted war tasks. Humanity is already in the dawn of the “Autonomous Revolution” and ethical questions and considerations regarding the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in war cannot be delayed. The use of AI-enabled weaponized drones is a microcosm of the issues that arise. The purpose of this paper is to create and sustain a discussion of the ethics of emerging defense technologies by considering them in the context of mainstream ethical frameworks, analyzing the U.S.’s decision-making and moral justifications to date, and discussing what ethics should be instilled in AI-enabled military drones themselves, if indeed the U.S. decides to further pursue them.