AWS: Legal Challenges and Perspectives

The advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has led to the development of Autonomous Weapon Systems (AWS), which are raising ethical, legal, and security concerns. AWS, because of their autonomy which gives them the ability to select and engage targets without human intervention, pose a challenge to principles of international law, particularly within International Humanitarian Law (IHL), International Human Rights Law (IHRL) and International Criminal Law (ICL). This paper investigates AWS, starting from a historical perspective and explaining their operational capabilities. The thesis focus on the complex process of assigning legal accountability to AWS infringements; assuring the compliace with international law principles; and the current proposals of an oversight and an outright ban of these systems. The thesis concludes that international collaboration is needed in order to ensure ethical and legal compliance of AWS, keeping in mind that these systems can provide valuable advantages.