The law of armed conflict requires ‘distinction’ between civilians and combatants and provides that only the latter may be targeted. However, for proper implementation, distinction requires advanced observation and recognition abilities as well as the capacity to exercise judgement based on situational awareness. While the observation and recognition abilities of machines may now surpass those of humans, the capacity of machines to exercise judgement remains significantly more limited than our own. Consequently, this article contends that the deployment of ‘autonomous weapons’ based on current levels of technological sophistication would be incompatible with distinction and that, as such, their use in conflict would be unlawful.

中文翻译：

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自主武器与武装冲突法区分原则的相容性

武装冲突法要求区分平民和战斗人员，并规定只有后者可以成为攻击目标。然而，为了正确实施，区分需要先进的观察和识别能力以及基于态势感知进行判断的能力。虽然机器的观察和识别能力现在可能超过人类，但机器进行判断的能力仍然比我们自己的要有限得多。因此，本文认为，基于当前技术复杂程度部署“自主武器”将与区分不相容，因此，它们在冲突中的使用将是非法的。