The legal and moral landscape of military artificial intelligence: fixing the accountability gap between man and machine

auteurs Piet Bester
  Sonja Els
tijdschrift RIDP Libri (ISSN: )
jaargang 2025
aflevering Military Justice: Contemporary, Historical and Comparative Perspectives
onderdeel Part 2 - Military justice today
publicatie datum 6 januari 2025
taal English
pagina 225
samenvatting

Artificial Intelligence (AI) increasingly creates an ethical and moral dilemma in traditional warfare. The irony is that new technology is introduced to make the battlefield more predictable, but in fact, it has led to more sources of unpredictability caused by the risk of not fully understanding the autonomous process of selection and engagement and of straining the link between intent and outcome. This paper aims to determine the nature of the accountability gap between man and machine powered by military AI, suggest how this gap can be closed within the legal and moral landscape of AI in military operations, and share the findings with the academic community. Areas that will contribute to the development of a comprehensive framework to close the accountability gap are proposed. These areas include but is not limited to focus on the role of supplying states and manufacturers, layered target identification, certification of autonomous weapons systems (AWS), preprogramming of AWS with moral codes and integrating Responsible Artificial Intelligence (RAI) into military leadership development and training. The study is concluded, and some recommendations are made.