Killer Robots: Ethical Issues in the Design of Unmanned Systems for Mi

Unmanned systems in military applications will often play a role in determining the success or failure of combat missions and thus in determining who lives and dies in times of war. Designers of UMS must therefore consider ethical, as well as operational, requirements and limits when developing UMS. The ethical issues involved in UMS design may be grouped under two broad headings: Building Safe Systems and Designing for the Law of Armed Conflict. This paper identifies and discusses a number of issues under each of these headings and offers some analysis of the implications of each issue and how it might be addressed.