Artificial Intelligence, Peace and Security: Challenges for International Humanitarian Law

Against the backdrop of the strategic impact of artificial intelligence (AI) in global politics and international relations, the paper analyzes the question of lethal autonomous weapons systems, which in the future, if actually developed, could be able to perform missions autonomously, select targets, and use force without human intervention. Arguments for and against the development of such systems are discussed from the perspective of International Humanitarian Law (IHL), in particular its basic principles and the Geneva Protocol I. The issue is considered in the context of current debates on autonomous weapons under the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW), which established a Group of Governmental Experts to deal with the matter in Geneva. Possible diplomatic scenarios that could result from such discussions are also examined.