The Australian Defence Force has a policy that decisions to kill will never be made solely by machines but rather will always include a human. But most senior military officers say computers with advanced artificial intelligence will increasingly help curate information, make recommendations and issue warnings that will shape battlefield commanders' decisions. The project will be partly a matter of figuring out exactly what people - including members of the military - deem ethical and then building that into autonomous military systems. The team will survey members of the military and the public to see what people think. "I don't think you can really build a robot to be ethical - or more ethical - without first understanding what we want from humans in war," Dr Galliott said.