AI drones simply need to be given a destination and they'll be able to dodge air defenses and reach the destinations on their own, while any lethal decisions are still made by human eyes.
In the end, even a primitive level of lethal decision-making, done well, would require robots to understand social culture, to perceive the world at least as well as we humans and to understand, deeply, the ramifications of their actions.
Others talk of incidents where confusion in the midst of a military campaign led to lethal decisions being made when there were other courses of action.
I also think that autonomous drones – weapons with an artificial intelligence, which could make lethal decisions on their own – are morally wrong in principle.
Erik Schechter's recent opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal, In Defense of Killer Robots, presents a reprise of some frequently debated positions on the place of robotic, lethal decision-making.
On a practical level, it is hardly clear that robotic systems can meet the minimum requirements set by the law of war for lethal decision-making.
Coates paints Barnes, a former brainwashed assassin, as someone who has seen the worst of humanity and is numb to lethal decisions in battle.
After about five years, Nuon Chea gradually began to open up to me and tell me of the momentous and lethal decisions he and Pol Pot made as they sought to maintain control of their revolutionary movement.
To critics, the secrecy has for years permitted Obama to conceal the damage in human lives inflicted by what he calls "targeted killing", insulating him politically from the consequences of lethal decisions that the president has decided can occur anywhere on earth for an indefinite duration.
"Increasingly combat drones are making lethal decisions about human beings".
We saw how fear can drive lethal decisions on both sides.
