To many, the idea of autonomous weapons systems (AWS) killing human beings is grotesque. Yet critics have had difficulty explaining why it should make a significant moral difference if a human combatant is killed by an AWS as opposed to being killed by a human combatant. The purpose of this paper is to explore the roots of various deontological concerns with AWS and to consider whether these concerns are distinct from any concerns that also apply to long-distance, human-guided weaponry. We suggest that at least one major driver of the intuitive moral aversion to lethal AWS is that their use disrespects their human targets by violating the martial contract between human combatants. On our understanding of this doctrine, service personnel cede a right not to be directly targeted with lethal violence to other human agents alone. Artificial agents, of which AWS are one example, cannot understand the value of human life. A human combatant cannot transfer his privileges of targeting enemy combatants to a robot. Therefore, the human duty-holder who deploys AWS breaches the martial contract between human combatants and disrespects the targeted combatants. We consider whether this novel deontological objection to AWS forms the foundation of several other popular yet imperfect deontological objections to AWS.

中文翻译：

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自主武器系统与战斗人员的道德平等

对于许多人来说，自动武器系统（AWS）杀死人类的想法是怪诞的。然而，批评家一直难以解释为什么如果人类战斗人员被AWS杀死而不是人类战斗人员杀死，它将在道德上产生重大影响。本文的目的是探究AWS的各种关注问题的根源，并考虑这些关注点是否与也适用于长距离，人类制导武器的任何关注点不同。我们建议，对致命AWS产生直观道德厌恶的至少一个主要驱动力是，其使用违反了人类战斗人员之间的军事合同，因而不尊重人类目标。根据我们对这一学说的理解，服务人员有权不将致命致命的暴力直接对准其他人类特工。人工制剂 其中一个例子就是AWS，无法理解人类生命的价值。人类战斗人员无法将针对敌方战斗人员的特权转移给机器人。因此，部署AWS的人类责任人违反了人类战斗人员之间的军事合同，并且不尊重目标战斗人员。我们考虑对AWS的这种新颖的道义反对是否构成其他对AWS的流行但不完善的道义反对的基础。