Issue: № 11, 2025
Doi: https://doi.org/10.37634/efp.2025.11.16
The paper presents an interdisciplinary study of theoretical approaches to the regulation of Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS) in the context of the development of combat artificial intelligence (AI) and the transformation of modern armed conflicts. The focus is placed on legal and moral-ethical dilemmas associated with delegating to machines the right to make targeting and lethal decisions without direct human control. It is demonstrated that such systems pose a threat to the core principles of international humanitarian law – distinction, proportionality, and accountability. A comparative analysis of approaches to regulating LAWS in leading states, including the United States, China, the United Kingdom, France, Israel, and Germany, is carried out. The paper highlights national strategies for the development of combat AI, state positions within the framework of the UN Group of Governmental Experts negotiations, and initiatives on the prohibition or restriction of such systems. Special attention is given to the actions of the Russian Federation as an aggressor state waging war against Ukraine since 2014, employing advanced military technologies and elements of AI without adherence to ethical standards. Numerous war crimes, mass killings of civilians, and attacks on infrastructure are noted, emphasizing the dangers of LAWS in the hands of states that disregard humanitarian principles and the urgent need for international control. The paper also outlines the moral challenges – the loss of human control over targeting decisions, the absence of ethical reasoning in machine actions, and the difficulties in assigning responsibility for their mistakes. It stresses the necessity of establishing a universal international regulatory mechanism for LAWS, based on the rule of law and humaneness, as well as the importance of international cooperation in preventing the use of such systems as instruments of aggression or terror, taking into account Ukraine’s tragic experience.
Keywords : lethal autonomous weapons systems, combat artificial intelligence, international humanitarian law, ethical dilemmas, military technologies
References:
1. Soloviov V.M. Use of Artificial Intelligence in Combat Ground Vehicles. Collection of Scientific Papers of the State Research and Testing Institute of Armament and Military Equipment Certification, 2024. Vol. 20. No. 2. pp. 96–109. (in Ukrainian).
2. Pekař, O., Šlouf, V., Šotnar, J., Potužák, L., & Havlík, T. War Game as a Method of Training, as a Method of Analysis. Proceedings of the 16th European Conference on Games Based Learning (ECGBL). 2022. Vol. 16. No. 1. pp. 651–654. URL: https://doi.org/10.34190/ecgbl.16.1.656
3. Hmyria V.P., Romanovska L.V., Fitsailo T.M., Nikitchenko A.O. Development and Application of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Armed Struggle: Theory, Support, Experience. Cherkasy, 2025. Vol. 24. pp. 7–15. (in Ukrainian).
4. Khaustova V.Ye., Reshetniak O.I., Khaustov M.M., Zinchenko V.A. Directions for the Development of Artificial Intelligence Technologies in Ensuring the Country’s Defense Capability. Business Inform. 2022. No. 3. pp. 17–26. (in Ukrainian).
5. Artificial Intelligence on the Battlefield. Overview of Smart Weapons: Ukraine, Israel, USA, Australia. BBC. URL: https://www.bbc.com/ukrainian/articles/crg78jn5pkdo (in Ukrainian).
6. Combat AI from Europe. Ukrinform. URL: https://www.ukrinform.ua/rubric-world/4016050-bojovij-si-z-evropi.html (in Ukrainian).
7. European Convention on the Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations to Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes. Ratified on March 6, 2008, Law No. 130-VI. URL: https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/994_125#Text (in Ukrainian).
8. Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I), 8 June 1977. URL: https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/995_g74 (in Ukrainian).
9. Criminal Code of Ukraine: Law of Ukraine of April 5, 2001, No. 2341-III (valid as of February 1, 2025). Vidomosti Verkhovnoi Rady Ukrainy. 2001, no. 25–26, art. 131. URL: https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/2341-14#Text (in Ukrainian).
10. Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Ratified with declarations by Law No. 3909-IX of August 21, 2024. URL: https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/laws/show/995_588#Text (in Ukrainian).
11. House W. FACT SHEET: President Biden issues Executive Order on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence. The White House. 30 October 2023. URL: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/10/30/fact-sheet-president-biden-issues-executive-order-on-safe-secure-and-trustworthy-artificial-intelligence/
12. High-Level Advisory Body on Artificial Intelligence. Office of the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology. (n.d.). URL: https://www.un.org/techenvoy/ai-advisory-body
13. European Parliament. Legislative resolution of 13 March 2024 on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on laying down harmonised rules on Artificial Intelligence (Artificial Intelligence Act) and amending certain Union Legislative Acts (COM(2021)0206 – C9-0146/2021 – 2021/0106(COD)). URL: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2024-0138_EN.html#title2
14. Baraban S.V., Belzetskyi R.S., Arseniuk I.R. Computer Engineering and Basics of Robotics: Electronic Study Guide for Combined (Local and Network) Use. Vinnytsia, 2024. 155 p. (in Ukrainian).
15. Ukraine Has Approved a Sectoral Strategy for the Development of Unmanned Technologies Until 2030. InternetUA. URL: https://internetua.com/ukrayina-zatverdila-sektoralnu-strategiua-rozvitku-bezpilotnih-tehnologii-do-2030-roku (in Ukrainian).
16. Ukraine to Host Record-Breaking Global Summit on Defense Tech and Battlefield AI. United24 Media. URL: https://united24media.com/latest-news/ukraine-to-host-record-breaking-global-summit-on-defense-tech-and-battlefield-ai-9564 (in Ukrainian).