March 03, 2014
Reflections on the Chatham House Autonomy Conference
Chatham House recently held a conference on autonomous military technologies, the focus of which was really the current debate regarding autonomous weapon systems. Kudos to Chatham House for leaning forward in this critical area and for bringing together the right mix of people for an engaging and productive conference. The event was held under Chatham House rules, so of course I won’t identify speakers or affiliations, but I want to pass along some reflections from the event, both for those who weren’t able to attend and to continue the discussion among those who did attend.
Below are some of my key takeaways from the conference as well as some thoughts on how these might affect how we think about this debate. This post assumes significant prior knowledge about what an autonomous weapon is and the arguments for and against, so if you’re coming new to this, I would suggest first reading this, this, and this, or you may find yourself a little frustrated. Also, I will restrict my consideration to lethal weapons, since that’s where the discussion at Chatham House focused, but it is worth pointing out that fully autonomous non-lethal anti-personnel weapons also raise challenging issues.
Please visit Lawfare to read the full article.
More from CNAS
-
When your data is held hostage
Podcast
Technology and security expert Kara Frederick explains how and why U.S. local governments and electoral rolls are vulnerable to ransomware and what can be done about it. List...
By Kara Frederick
-
Setting the Stage for U.S. Leadership in 6G
Commentary
Every day there are more headlines about China’s rise in 5G, the next generation of wireless communications technologies, and the economic and national security risksto the Un...
By Martijn Rasser
-
China’s Quantum Future
Commentary
China should be a “global leader in innovation” by 2035, President Xi Jinping declared during the Chinese Communist Party’s 19th National Congress last October. His remarks re...
By Elsa B. Kania
-
Technology and Innovation in an Era of U.S.-China Strategic Competition
Podcast
China has taken significant steps to implement national strategies and encourage investment aimed at surpassing the U.S. in high-tech fields like artificial intelligence. In t...
By Elsa B. Kania
