There is an ongoing technological transformation of warfare with ever more control of weapons being ceded to computer systems. The superpowers and other states are embarked on the development of weapons systems that once activated can select targets, track them and apply violent force without human supervision. These Autonomous Weapons Systems (AWS) are seen as a way to create a military edge. China, Russian, Israel and the US wish to use them for force multiplication with very few human controllers operating swarms of weapons in the air, on the land as well as on and under the sea.

This has led to considerable and increasing international discussion among nation states and civil society that has highlighted serious concerns about delegating the decision to apply violent force. Discussions have been ongoing at the Convention for Certain Conventional Weapons at the UN in Geneva since 2013 and are making headway towards regulations to ensure the meaningful human control of weapons systems.

This article will summarize three main clusters of arguments against the use of AWS: Compliance with IHL, moral issues and the destabilization of global security.