THE MORALITY OF AUTONOMOUS ROBOTS

Aaron M. Johnson · Sidney Axinn

109 citations0/0 files storedJournal of Military Ethics

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War, Ethics, and Justification Ethics and Social Impacts of AI Military Strategy and Technology

Abstract

While there are many issues to be raised in using lethal autonomous robotic weapons (beyond those of remotely operated drones), we argue that the most important question is: should the decision to take a human life be relinquished to a machine? This question is often overlooked in favor of technical questions of sensor capability, operational questions of chain of command, or legal questions of sovereign borders. We further argue that the answer must be ‘no’ and offer several reasons for banning autonomous robots. (1) Such a robot treats a human as an object, instead of as a person with inherent dignity. (2) A machine can only mimic moral actions, it cannot be moral. (3) A machine run by a program has no human emotions, no feelings about the seriousness of killing a human. (4) Using such a robot would be a violation of military honor. We therefore conclude that the use of an autonomous robot in lethal operations should be banned.

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References

2020Foundations of the Metaphysics of Morals 2007Killer Robots 2009Governing Lethal Behavior in Autonomous Robots 2010Moral Predators: The Duty to Employ Uninhabited Aerial Vehicles 2010Governing Lethal Behavior in Autonomous Robots 2010Saying ‘No!’ to Lethal Autonomous Targeting

Cited by

2018Autonomous weapons systems, killer robots and human dignity 2018Autonomous weapons systems and changing norms in international relations 2019Responsibility for Killer Robots 2022A Comparative Analysis of the Definitions of Autonomous Weapons Systems 2021Ethical Principles for Artificial Intelligence in National Defence 2020Good Robots, Bad Robots: Morally Valenced Behavior Effects on Perceived Mind, Morality, and Trust 2022Autonomous Weapons Systems and International Norms 2018Drones and Support for the Use of Force

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