1、On April 13-17,delegates to the United Nations Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons(CCW)will discuss lethal autonomous weapon systems,an emerging technology that raises signif-icant legal,moral,ethical,and policy issues.This meeting builds on discussions held in May of 2014,and states should u
2、se this opportunity to further their understanding of this important issue.What are Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems(LAWS)?LAWS are weapon systems that,once activated,are intended to select and engage targets on their own,also known as operating without a human“in the loop.”LAWS would be different f
3、rom drones today,where a human is responsible for firing weapons against any target.Why Discuss LAWS?Increasing autonomy in systems across militaries and the commercial sector suggest it is important to consider this topic now:Rapid advances in computer technology have raised the prospect of future
4、development of autonomous systems in many applications.It is important to distinguish between trends toward greater autonomy in systems in gen-eral,such as self-driving cars,military robots,or missiles with advanced navigation fea-tures,and autonomous weapon systems that would select and engage targ
