{"id":23702,"date":"2026-09-07T10:36:05","date_gmt":"2026-09-07T10:36:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/strategicforecast.cissajk.org.pk\/?p=23702"},"modified":"2026-10-19T10:37:30","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T10:37:30","slug":"laws-at-a-turning-point-what-the-gge-outcome-means-for-the-future-of-autonomous-warfare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/strategicforecast.cissajk.org.pk\/?p=23702","title":{"rendered":"LAWS at a Turning Point: What the GGE Outcome Means for the Future of Autonomous Warfare"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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A turning point has been reached regarding the debate on lethal autonomous weapons system. After years of discussion under the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW), the Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) has now moved another step ahead and the debate has now shifted from the question of autonomous weapons regulation to the question of what an international framework actually contain for the autonomous weapons. The result is neither a freedom on the battlefield nor a restriction which many nations and civil society organizations are pushing. Instead, it serves as a starting point, acknowledging that even though there are big questions that still need answers like human control, international humanitarian law, legal review, testing, accountability and safety measures must remain really important when it comes to controlling autonomous weapons. Therefore, the significance of its outcome is evident in what it establishes as well as what it leaves open.<\/p>\n\n

The most significant advancement is the move towards the functional definition of LAWS by using the approach that focuses on what a weapon system can actually do rather than simply defining based on technology, platform, or the level of artificial intelligence. The new way of grouping focuses on a set of weaponry and technology elements that work together and can spot, pick and hit a target by themselves without any human involvement. Because technology will keep getting more advanced than the treaty wording so the functional approach is also very important. Right after it is negotiated, a definition that depends on platform, algorithm or technology setup has a big chance of getting old very fast. Simultaneously, the discussion illustrated why accuracy is important.<\/p>\n\n

Perhaps the most obvious takeaway from this process is that decisions about using force cannot be made without human control. This outcome places the framework at the center of judgment. Human control remains essential and human judgement guides every choice. The argument is no longer just between proponents and opponents of human control. What constitutes adequate human control is the real question. Is it necessary for a person to directly interfere in every single interaction? Is supervision of a group or target set sufficient? Can human involvement be indirect? How much discretion can be delegated to a machine? And how should control be exercised when an autonomous system operates at a speed or scale beyond meaningful real-time human intervention?<\/p>\n\n

There was a lot of conflict about these matters. People argued over how big the target sets should be. Another point of debate was how much human involvement is really needed at stages of an operation. Therefore, rather than necessarily necessitating constant real-time intervention in every contact, the more practical path that emerged from the conversations is one of context-appropriate human judgment and control. The method acknowledges that significant human engagement may take place at various stages of the weapon system\u2019s operational use and life cycle. Rather than requiring a single technology paradigm of \u201chuman control,\u201d this would be more feasible. However, it also poses a new problem: if human control is sufficiently adaptable to suit various operational situations, the final framework must make sure that adaptability does not turn into a way for inefficient control.<\/p>\n\n

Autonomous weapons remain subject to international humanitarian law in the same way as conventional weapons, means and methods of warfare. Autonomous weapons still have to follow the rules of distinction, proportionality and precautions, in attack and technological autonomy does not create a vacuum. Legal responsibility stays with states, commanders, operators and other relevant human actors not with weapons themselves.<\/p>\n\n

The emerging framework adopts a two-tier approach. Weapons systems that can make their decisions should not be allowed if they are not able to follow the rules or if they are not acceptable. Others might be allowed if they have rules and safety measures. Systems that cannot distinguish between what is allowed and what is not or that cannot be predicted or controlled well or that cannot be used in a way that follows the rules of war should not be allowed.<\/p>\n\n

For systems that may be used lawfully, the regulation focuses on safeguards. Safeguards include limits on the scale, limits on the duration and limits on the scope of operations. Moreover, regulation sets rules about target types and engagements. Regulation defines operational parameters. Regulation insists on chains of command. Regulation provides ways to deactivate systems. Regulation puts controls on autonomous changes, to mission parameters even when those changes come from real\u2011time machine learning.<\/p>\n\n

Predictability, reliability, traceability, and explainability remain important concerns because they affect both lawful decision-making and accountability. States have therefore emphasized testing, evaluation, realistic simulations and legal reviews before and throughout deployment. For autonomous weapons these measures are not merely technical or procurement requirements; they are central to ensuring compliance, with IHL.<\/p>\n\n

A fundamental principle is that the responsibility lies with the human and cannot be transferred to machine. If there is an unlawful attack, autonomous system cannot be legally or morally responsible. Accountability must therefore remain within the human chain of command. It is important to analyse what the system actually did, what humans knew, what parameters were established, and what interventions were available by examining the data logs, audit trails, investigation procedures, and clearly traceable command structures.<\/p>\n\n

Moreover, regulation must cover every stage of the weapons life which means proper checks before it is used and after the big changes are made. It also means that testing the weapons in situations such as training the people who use it and taking steps to fix any unfair choices or over-trusting the system. Human involvement must be meaningful rather than merely formal. An operator who technically remains in the loop but automatically relies on a system\u2019s recommendation may not exercise substantive human judgment.<\/p>\n\n

Despite this convergence, important issues still remain unresolved. Disagreement keeps going over prohibitions related to the making, buying, stockpiling, and transfer of certain systems. The exact meaning of control, explainability, predictability, technical standards, autonomous engagements and accountability mechanisms is still unclear. The framework is a step forward but it does not yet solve all the questions that a complete international treaty needs to answer.<\/p>\n\n

The GGE process has identified areas where there is agreement such as IHL applies to autonomous weapons; human judgment and responsibility are still very important; systems that cannot be used in a lawful way should not be allowed; systems that might be allowed need clear protections; legal checks and real tests are needed; and people cannot pass responsibility onto machines that act on their own. The next stage should focus on turning these principles into clear operational obligations.<\/p>\n\n

Author: Nimra Javed, Research Officer, Center for International Strategic Studies, AJK.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A turning point has been reached regarding the debate on lethal autonomous weapons system. After years of discussion under the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW), the Group of Governmental…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":23703,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[229],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-emerging-technologies-strategies-and-warfare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/strategicforecast.cissajk.org.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23702","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/strategicforecast.cissajk.org.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/strategicforecast.cissajk.org.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/strategicforecast.cissajk.org.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/35"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/strategicforecast.cissajk.org.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23702"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/strategicforecast.cissajk.org.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23702\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23707,"href":"https:\/\/strategicforecast.cissajk.org.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23702\/revisions\/23707"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/strategicforecast.cissajk.org.pk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/23703"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/strategicforecast.cissajk.org.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/strategicforecast.cissajk.org.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/strategicforecast.cissajk.org.pk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}