March 16, 2015
Meaningful Human Control in Weapon Systems: A Primer
Dr. Michael Horowitz and 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. The results suggest that meaningful human control has three essential components: Human operators are making informed, conscious decisions about the use of weapons; human operators have sufficient information to ensure the lawfulness of the action they are taking, given what they know about the target, the weapon, and the context for action; and the weapon is designed and tested, and human operators are properly trained, to ensure effective control over the use of the weapon.
Authors
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Michael Horowitz
Adjunct Senior Fellow, Technology and National Security Program
Michael C. Horowitz is Richard Perry Professor and the Director of Perry World House at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a...
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Paul Scharre
Vice President and Director of Studies
Paul Scharre is the Vice President and Director of Studies at the Center for a New American Security. He is the award-winning author of Army of None: Autonomous Weapons and th...
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