Fully autonomous weapons (FAWs), which are robotic systems that can select and fire upon targets without any human intervention, have the potential to be an enormous revolution in military affairs. Proponents of FAWs believe that they will allow faster, more precise and more efficient military interventions. They additionally maintain that these systems will reduce the human risks connected with military operations since they will replace soldiers with autonomous machines. However, despite these advantages, FAWs have been denounced as killer robots and are widely criticized by society and the international community. Critics cite, among other factors, the lack of human supervision, the dangers of the robotic arms race, the limited ability of machines to estimate proportionality of an attack and distinguish legitimate targets from illegitimate ones, and the problems associated with accountability for robot’s actions. Despite these serious arguments against FAWs, a pre-emptive ban on this technology is unlikely because it is opposed by the superpowers mosted invested in the development of the weapons systems. A more feasible solution would be to establish regulations that would alleviate the most harmful aspects of FAWs. This policy proposal will introduce regulations that the international community, through the mechanism of the United Nations, should implement in order to prevent the most harmful effects of FAW development and deployment.
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