Select and Eliminate Targets without Human Intervention

The central factor that distinguishes autonomous weapons from remotely controlled weapons is human control. Lethal weapon systems in which target selection and the manner of target engagement are not subject to human control but are left to artificial intelligence (AI) are problematic from both ethical and legal perspectives. Elon Musk, 160 research and business organizations, and experts from the Stop Killer Robots campaign called against building autonomous weapons systems in 2018. In doing so, they raised awareness of the threat of autonomous weapons for the first time. In principle, most objects can become weapons (Bendel, 2019, page 321). Examples include bicycle chains, screwdrivers, or scissors.