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Ethical Autonomy Project
Information technology is driving rapid increases in the autonomous capabilities of unmanned systems, from self-driving cars to factory robots, and increasingly autonomous unmanned systems will play a significant role in future conflicts as well. The prospect of increased autonomy in weapons systems raises challenging legal, moral, ethical, policy and strategic stability issues. Nation-states and activists in the United States and abroad are already debating how advances in autonomy will influence warfare – and what, if anything, should be done. Activists have launched a “Campaign to Stop Killer Robots,” comprised of 53 non-governmental organizations. In May of 2014, state parties to the United Nations’ Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons held initial discussions on autonomous weapons, and future discussions are likely.
Governments and militaries are only beginning to grapple with how to address the challenges and opportunities associated with increased autonomy. Technology is moving fast in this area. Few states have guidelines on how autonomy should be included in future weapons systems, with the United States a notable exception.
The project on Ethical Autonomy will examine the legal, moral, ethical, policy and strategic stability dimensions of increased autonomy in future weapon systems. The goal of CNAS’ Ethical Autonomy project is to help states, activists, academics and militaries grapple with the challenging issues of autonomy in future weapons. This dialogue is necessary to ensure an appropriate balance between ethical and strategic stability considerations, technological opportunities and future warfighting needs.
20YY Warfare Initiative Director and Senior Fellow Paul Scharre asked experts to examine the future of autonomous weapon systems. View their responses.
Latest Publications
Autonomous Weapons and Operational Risk
By Paul Scharre
20YY Future of Warfare Initiative Director Paul Scharre examines the risks in future autonomous weapons that would choose their own targets and the potential for catastrophic accidents..
Autonomous Weapons at the UN: A Primer for Delegates
By Paul Scharre, Michael Horowitz, and Kelley Sayler
CNAS experts Paul Scharre, Michael Horowitz, and Kelley Sayler provide a pimer for UN delegates on autuomous weapons.
Meaningful Human Control in Weapon Systems: A Primer
By Paul Scharre and Michael Horowitz
Adjunct Senior Fellow Michael Horowitz and 20YY Future of Warfare Initiative Director Paul Scharre assess statements made by those advocating for meaningful human control and studied the use of weapons today, which have varying degrees of autonomy.
An Introduction to Autonomy in Weapon Systems
By Paul Scharre and Michael Horowitz
In this working paper, Paul Scharre and Michael Horowitz discuss future military systems incorporating greater autonomy.
The Ethical Autonomy project is a joint endeavor of the Technology and National Security Program and the 20YY Warfare Initiative, and is made possible by the generous support of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
The Ethical Autonomy Project Team
- Ben FitzGerald - Senior Fellow and Director of the Technology and National Security Program
- Michael C. Horowitz - Adjunct Senior Fellow and Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania
- Kelley Sayler - Associate Fellow
- Paul Scharre - Senior Fellow and Director of the 20YY Warfare Initiative
Resources
Bibliography on autonomous weapon systems:
- Visit the Ethical Autonomy bibliography webpage
- Download the PDF version
- Download the Microsoft Word .doc version
Join the discussion on #autonomousweapons on Twitter.
Online resources on autonomous weapons:
- Article 36 – Autonomous Weapons
- Campaign to Stop Killer Robots
- Human Rights Watch – “Killer Robots”
- International Committee of the Red Cross – New Technologies and International Humanitarian Law
- International Committee for Robot Arms Control
- Just Security – Editors’ Picks: Autonomous Weapons Systems
- Reaching Critical Will – Fully Autonomous Weapons
- Transcripts and materials from the May 2014 United Nations Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons meeting on lethal autonomous weapons
- UN Institute for Disarmament Research - Autonomous Weapons
- U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) policy on autonomy in weapons: DoD Directive 3000.09
Related Content
Autonomous Weapons and Human Control
In advance of the global meetings on autonomous weapons, CNAS has released a briefing report and infographic on autonomous weapons and human control. Paul Scharre and Kelley Sayler of CNAS’ Ethical Autonomy Project examine how autonomy is used in current and future weapons and prospects for human...
Rise of the machines? The danger of autonomous weapons
It’s a common theme in science fiction – machines rising up against their human masters. But it could be a real threat, warn researchers at the recent World Economic Forum. Unlike today's drones, which are still controlled by human operators, autonomous weapons could potentially be programmed to...
Building social science knowledge on public attitudes and autonomous weapons
Last week, Charli Carpenter published an important piece advancing the conversation about public attitudes, public conscience, and autonomous weapons. Her post critiqued my recent article in Research & Politics on public opinion and autonomous weapons. As a former Duck contributor, I am...
Vietnam-era planes used against ISIS
A pair of nearly 50-year-old planes has been brought out of retirement to fight ISIS.
The Vietnam-era OV-10 Bronco turbo-propeller planes are part of an experiment to see if "light turbo-prop aircraft" are more effective in conducting counterinsurgency operations, a U.S. military representative...
Autonomous Weapons and Operational Risk
CNAS Senior Fellow Paul Scharre has written a new report, “Autonomous Weapons and Operational Risk.” The report, which is a part of the CNAS Ethical Autonomy Project, examines the risks in future autonomous weapons that would choose their own targets and the potential for catastrophic accidents.
Report Cites Dangers of Autonomous Weapons
A new report written by a former Pentagon official who helped establish United States policy on autonomous weapons argues that such weapons could be uncontrollable in real-world environments where they are subject to design failure as well as hacking, spoofing and manipulation by adversaries.
In...
Autonomous Weapons in the News
New CNAS Research on Autonomous Weapons
CNAS Adjunct Senior Fellow Michael C. Horowitz released two papers this week on issues surrounding autonomous weapons.
Public opinion and the politics of the killer robots debate
Published in the academic journal Research & Politics, this paper explores...
Autonomous Weapons in the News
The World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland held an expert panel discussion on autonomous weapons in late January (video available here).
The event was covered widely by the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, CNN, Bloomberg, CNBC, The Daily Mail, Phys.org, The Independent, The Monitor Daily, ...
CNAS Press Note: Autonomous Weapons Fears and the Davos World Economic Forum
Washington, January 27 – Following the high-level discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on autonomous weapons, Paul Scharre, Center for a New American Security Senior Fellow and Director of the CNAS Ethical Autonomy project has written a new Press Note, “Autonomous Weapons...
Autonomous Weapons in the News
Autonomous Weapons and the Curse of History
(The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists) Paulo E. Santos argues that autonomous weapons are a present reality and that “the differences between, say, a fully autonomous weapon system and a cruise missile or remote-controlled military drone are really more...