Editorial for the Special Issue on Meaningful Human Control and Autonomous Weapons Systems

Global discussions on the legality and ethics of using Artificial intelligence (AI) technology in warfare, particularly the use of autonomous weapons (AWS), continue to be hotly debated. Despite the push for a ban on these types of systems, unilateral agreement remains out of reach. Much of the disaccord comes from a privation of common under-standings of fundamental notions of what it means for these types of systems to be au-tonomous. Similarly, there is a dispute as to what, if at all possible, it means for humans to have meaningful control over these systems. The attention garnered has not relented, and recent developments at the 2021 Sixth Review Conference of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW or CCWC) betray the need for further sober debate. Likewise, we see interest in this topic continued to be disseminated by full-length books being recently published like Should we Ban Killer Robots? and Lethal Autonomous Weapons: Re-examining the Law and Ethics of Robotic Warfare, as well as forthcoming monographs like Designed for Death: Controlling Killer Robots. This interest is not unwarranted, with global geopolitical instability becoming a clear and present danger, the employment of these types of systems is likewise becoming a reality that we must confront. This special issue aims to take a slightly different approach to the issue, not looking only at the legal nature of these systems per se, but taking a look at how to design these systems for human values, like those of international law.