Depersonalisation of killing: Towards a 21st century use of force “Beyond Good and Evil?”

Abstract

The article analyses how robotisation as the latest advance in military technology can depersonalise the methods of killing in the 21st century by turning enemy soldiers and civilians into mere objects devoid of moral value. The departing assumption is that robotisation of warfare transforms military operations into automated industrial processes with the aim of removing empathy as a redundant 'cost'. The development of autonomous weapons systems raises a number of sharp ethical controversies related to the projected moral insensitivity of robots regarding the treatment of enemies and civilian population. The futurist vision of war as a foreign policy instrument entirely 'purified' of the risk of morally wrong actions is in opposition with the negative effects of the use of drones. The author concludes that the use of lethal robots in combat would eventually remove enemy soldiers and civilians from the realm of ethical reasoning and deprive them of human dignity. Decision to kill in military operations ought to be based on human conscience as the only proper framework of making decisions by reasoning whether an action is right or wrong. Robotic warfare: Towards removing prosocial behaviour as the 'cost' of military operations? Many archaeological finds depicts scenes of-as much as epic poetry and prose are telling stories about-famous military endeavours that show an even spatio-temporal distribution of use of force as a means of resolving disputes between groups, communities and nations. 1 Aside from the mythological and poetic hyperbole woven into such scenes, warfare as one of humanity's oldest social activities testifies to the ancient entwinement of tools, technology and creative thinking when it comes to the effective use of material and human resources made at moments of societal wealth available to the ruling elites. The main aim of military leaders has always 1 The article presents findings from a study conducted as a part of the project "Serbia in contemporary international relations: The strategic directions of development and consolidation of the position of Serbia in international integration-foreign policy, economics, legal and security perspectives" funded by the Ministry of Education, Science, and Techonological Development of the Republic of Serbia (grant No. OI179029).

Autonomous Weapon Systems Under International Law

“…Once data was identified and categorized, it was connected with incentives. For example, the depersonalization of killing allowed for the physical removal of military personnel and associated risk, and therefore establishes an incentive for risk aversion (Korac, 2018).…”

5G as geopolitical power struggle: The new Neutral approach of balance and safety in technology controlled world explained through a case study of Serbia

“…Chances are that military technology will be controlled through 5G infrastructure as well. Korać (2018) outlines capabilities of remote AI driven weapons used in arm conflicts around the world today. What if control of this powerful military force is taken over by hackers, terrorists, algorithms or some country to establish global domination?…”