21. It Takes a Village

This chapter is concerned with the future of Lethal Autonomous Weapons System (LAWS), providing an empirically informed account of the points in which meaningful human oversight of autonomous weapons ought to be exercised. Investigating the UK’s position on LAWS, this chapter outlines how the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk tested, and analysed, the governance and accountability structures that exist for UK weapon systems. This inquiry reveals points at which human intervention is needed in order to make decisions that enable safe and ethical weapon systems, highlighting the need for further consideration to be taken by any global military in association to autonomous weapons.