Comment by Michael C. Horowitz

Advocates of a ban on autonomous weapons often claim that the technology today isn’t good enough to discriminate reliably between civilian and military targets, and therefore can’t comply with the laws of war. In some situations, that’s true. For others, it’s less clear. Over 30 countries already have automated defensive systems to shoot down rockets and missiles. They are supervised by humans but, once activated, select and engage targets without further human input. These systems work quite effectively and have been used without controversy for decades. Autonomous weapons should not be banned based on the state of the technology today, but governments must start working now to ensure that militaries use autonomous technology in a safe and responsible manner that retains human judgment and accountability in the use of force. AI Verified source (2015)