OUVRAGE : N. Bhuta, S. Beck, R. Geiβ, H.-Y. Liu, C. Kreβ (eds.), Autonomous Weapons Systems: Law, Ethics, Policy

Nehal BHUTA, Susanne BECK, Robin GEIΒ, Hin-Yan LIU, Claus KREΒ

The intense and polemical debate over the legality and morality of weapons systems to which human cognitive functions are delegated (up to and including the capacity to select targets and release weapons without further human intervention) addresses a phenomenon which does not yet exist but which is widely claimed to be emergent. This ground-breaking collection combines contributions from roboticists, legal scholars, philosophers and sociologists of science in order to recast the debate in a manner that clarifies key areas and articulates questions for future research. The contributors develop insights with direct policy relevance, including who bears responsibility for autonomous weapons systems, whether they would violate fundamental ethical and legal norms, and how to regulate their development. It is essential reading for those concerned about this emerging phenomenon and its consequences for the future of humanity. 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of contributors
Acknowledgements

Part I. Introduction

1. Christof Heyns, Autonomous weapons systems: living a dignified life and dying a dignified death 

Part II. Meanings of autonomy and human cognition under automation

2. Noel Sharkey, Staying in the loop: human supervisory control of weapons
3. Giovanni Sartor & Andrea Omicini, The autonomy of technological systems and responsibilities for their use
4. Lucy Suchman & Jutta Weber, Human-machine autonomies 

Part III. Autonomous weapons systems and human dignity

5. Dieter Birnbacher, Are autonomous weapon systems a threat to human dignity?
6. Guglielmo Tamburrini, On banning autonomous weapons systems: from deontological to wide consequentialist reasons

Part IV. Risk, transparency and legal compliance in the regulation of autonomous weapons systems

7. Pablo Kalmanovitz, Judgment, liability, and the risk of riskless warfare
8. Sarah Knuckey, Autonomous weapons systems and transparency: towards an international dialogue
9. Dan Saxon, A human touch: autonomous weapons, DOD Directive 3000.09 and the interpretation of 'appropriate levels of human judgment over the use of force'
10. Geoffrey S. Corn, Autonomous weapons systems: managing the inevitability of 'taking the man out of the loop'

Part V. New frameworks for collective responsibility

11. Eliav Lieblich & Eyal Benvenisti, The obligation to exercise discretion in warfare: why autonomous weapon systems are unlawful
12. Nehal Bhuta & Stavros-Evdokimos Pantazopoulos, Autonomy and uncertainty: increasingly autonomous weapons systems and the international legal regulation of risk

Part VI. New frameworks for individual responsibility

13. Neha Jain, Autonomous weapons systems: new frameworks for individual responsibility
14. Hin-Yan Liu, Refining responsibility: differentiating two types of responsibility issues raised by autonomous weapons systems

Part VII. Conclusion

15. Nehal Bhuta, Susanne Beck & Robin Geiß, Present futures: concluding reflections and open questions on autonomous weapons systems

Nehal BHUTA, Susanne BECK, Robin GEIΒ, Hin-Yan LIU, Claus KREΒ (eds.), Autonomous Weapons Systems: Law, Ethics, Policy, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2016 (420 pp.)

Editors

Nehal Bhuta is Professor of Public International Law at the European University Institute, Florence, and Co-Director of the EUI's Academy of European Law.

Susanne Beck is Professor of Criminal Law and Procedure, Comparative Criminal Law and the Philosophy of Law at Leibniz University Hanover.

Robin Geiß is Professor of International Law and Security at the University of Glasgow.

Hin-Yan Liu is Associate Professor at the Centre for International Law, Conflict and Crisis, Faculty of Law, University of Copenhagen.

Claus Kreß is Professor of Criminal Law and Public International Law at the University of Cologne, where he is also Director of the Institute of International Peace and Security Law.

Contributors

Christof Heyns, Noel Sharkey, Giovanni Sartor, Andrea Omicini, Lucy Suchman, Jutta Weber, Dieter Birnbacher, Guglielmo Tamburrini, Pablo Kalmanovitz, Sarah Knuckey, Dan Saxon, Geoffrey S. Corn, Eliav Lieblich, Eyal Benvenisti, Nehal Bhuta, Stavros-Evdokimos Pantazopoulos, Neha Jain, Hin-Yan Liu, Susanne Beck, Robin Geiß