A licence to kill for autonomous weapons?

17 April 2015

Autonomous weapons are an emotive subject, with the potential to change the whole nature of warfare.

Could machines one day be able to carry out killing without human control and what should we do about the legal and moral implications of that possibility?

A five-day long conference in Geneva has been looking at just such issues. Kathleen Lawand, Head of the ICRC's arms unit and one of the speakers at the conference discusses the legal and ethical issues that these weapons pose.