Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS)

Artificial Intelligence Trust, Risk and Security Management (AI TRiSM): Frameworks, Applications, Challenges and Future Research Directions

Habbal et al. (2024)

Source DOI

Sub-category

Risk Domain

4Malicious Actors & Misuse

4.2Cyberattacks, weapon development or use, and mass harm

Using AI systems to develop cyber weapons (e.g., by coding cheaper, more effective malware), develop new or enhance existing weapons (e.g., Lethal Autonomous Weapons or chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and high-yield explosives), or use weapons to cause mass harm.

LAWS are a distinctive category of weapon systems that employ sensor arrays and computer algorithms to detect and attack a target without direct human intervention in the system’s operation(p. 3)

Entity— Who or what caused the harm

Human

Due to a decision or action made by humans

AI system

Due to a decision or action made by an AI system

Other

Due to some other reason or is ambiguous

Intent— Whether the harm was intentional or accidental

Intentional

Due to an expected outcome from pursuing a goal

Unintentional

Due to an unexpected outcome from pursuing a goal

Other

Without clearly specifying the intentionality

Timing— Whether the risk is pre- or post-deployment

Pre-deployment

Occurring before the AI is deployed

Post-deployment

Occurring after the AI model has been trained and deployed

Other

Without a clearly specified time of occurrence

Supporting Evidence (1)

humans might lose the ability to foresee which individuals or entities could become the focus of an assault, or even elucidate the rationale behind a specific target selection made by a LAWS(p. 3)