AUTONOMOUS WEAPONS AND THE FUTURE OF ARMED CONFLICT: A THREAT TO INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW?


Pooja, Baljinder Singh
National Law University, Delhi, India
Abstract
The modern war uses Autonomous Weapon Systems (AWS), which select and attack the targets without the human decision. The current article emphasizes that Artificial Intelligence (AI) driven systems are based on the machine learning and autonomous decision-making that are subject to major legal and ethical concerns within the confines of International Humanitarian Law (IHL). The present article highlights that AWS undermine the fundamental concepts of IHL by breaching the distinction, proportionality and precaution because its algorithm cannot draw contextual and ethical evaluations. This creates a disturbing accountability environment: in the event of an AWS violation, the party to be responsible is not clear anymore. The global and legal policies is also discussed in the current article. International organizations such as the civil society Stop Killer Robots also keep pushing towards global control though influential nations are fighting against it because it would improve their strategic positions. To halt the proposed fully autonomous lethal systems a binding treaty is needed with immediate effect.
Keywords: Accountability, Autonomous Weapon Systems (AWS), International Humanitarian Law (IHL), Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Journal Name :
EPRA International Journal of Research & Development (IJRD)

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Published on : 2025-07-12

Vol : 10
Issue : 7
Month : July
Year : 2025
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