Robotic weapons, whether autonomous or remote controlled, have generated widespread controversy in recent years.

Alex Leveringhaus, James Martin Fellow, Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict, discusses the ethics of autonomous weapons, and in a recent policy paper titled Robo-Wars: The Regulation of Robotic Weapons, urges governments to recognise the increasing prominence of these weapons in contemporary and future forms of warfare and proposes steps towards suitable regulation.

What is an autonomous weapon?

Can the use of autonomous weapons ever be ethically sound?

Download the paper

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