Autonomous Systems: Issues for Defence Policymakers

Autonomous systems pose both an opportunity and a challenge for warfighters. Militaries who harness their advantages will be able to field forces with greater range, persistence, mass, coordination, and speed on the battlefield. At the same time, autonomous systems, in their current state, lack the robustness and flexibility of human intelligence and are not appropriate for many tasks. Human-machine teaming to combine the best of each is likely to result in the most capable future force. But determining the appropriate balance between human and machine cognition will not always be easy. Autonomous systems are already capable enough to eliminate many tasks currently performed by warfighters, and are likely to continue improving over time. At the same time, war is and will remain a human endeavour. Robots are not combatants, but are merely tools in the hands of warfighters to better perform their job: to fight and win. Introduction Whether in cars, airplanes, stock-trading algorithms, or household appliances, machines across a range of industries are incorporating increasing intelligence and autonomy. Automated algorithms set book prices online.(1) Subway repairs are scheduled by tailored artificial intelligences.(2) ‘Learning’ thermostats monitor your behaviour and adjust household temperature accordingly.(3) And an estimated 61% of internet traffic is generated by automated and intelligent software called ‘bots’, from so-called Twitter bots that impersonate