IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - December 2020 - 42

on the R text mining package tm [74] as well as related
packages to grasp relationships of proximity of word
stems. To look for associations of word stems, the text
corpus was split into 230 files. Punctuation and numbers were removed, and a rather simple algorithm
reduced words by cutting of suffixes.

Results
Autonomy and LAWS
To gain a deeper insight of the dominant conceptual
and empirical understanding of autonomy and LAWS,
we created " autonomy " as a code for covering all
instances in the CCW discourse in which the respective
signifier was named and its meaning temporarily fixed.
We also coded phrases describing defining characteristics of LAWS with " laws_def_char. " To approach not only
what is conceptually envisaged with respect to autonomy and LAWS but also how these concepts may materialize, we created the codes " tech_specifics " and
" tech_analogies. " These four codes all fall under the
code category humans and LAWS interaction.

The identification or detection of
targets is another critical function
which is to be distinguished from the
ultimate selection of a target.
We retrieved 168 codings for " autonomy, " and while
these were often made with references to humans not
being " in the loop " anymore or the general problem of
defining and differentiating between autonomy and its
various degrees, one can notice a recurrent focus on
autonomy as a function. The following references were
found: " using a weapon with autonomous functions "
(WP4-US), " [s]ystems with advanced artificial intelligence
and enhanced autonomous functions " (GenEx-AU), that
" its understanding changes with shifts in the technology
frontier, and different functions of a weapons system
could have different degrees of autonomy " (SummaryReport), that " [a]utonomy is in and of itself a function "
(WP5-BR), that " some semi-autonomous machines can
have highly autonomous critical functions while highly
autonomous machines can have no or limited autonomy in critical functions " (SummaryReport).
Thus, within the CCW debate, it becomes a clear
objective to focus on autonomy of such critical functions. As critical functions, " different parts of the

targeting cycle " (SummaryReport) are to be taken into
consideration. Especially, functions of selecting and
attacking targets are looked at critically. Out of 168 codings regarding " autonomy, " 56 were specifically referring
to selecting and targeting as critical functions. This is
illustrated in documents by various actors, pointing out
that " [t]he ICRC has correctly noted that the main and
perhaps what states should be concerned about characteristic of AWS is that they have autonomy in the critical
functions of selecting targets and attacking without
human intervention " (SARCIL). The United Kingdom also
stressed that " many participants [had] call[ed] for
human control of 'critical functions,' often specifically
referring to 'select and engage,' but it was unclear precisely what these terms mean " (WP1-UK).
Looking at empirical references to technological specifics, it is referred to " [p]attern matching algorithms [...]
used for target selection (WP2-ES/F) or weapons with
advanced sensors such as millimetric wave radar
[that] can operate beyond visual range (for example,
the AIM 120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile
(AMRAAM)) or engage multiple targets from a single
platform (such as Hellfire or Brimstone guided missiles) "
(WP1-UK; own emp.).
In general, sensors are often named as crucial features of LAWS: " Computers can enable machines to
respond to inputs from sensors through an application
of the algorithms or other processes with which they
have been programmed " (WP4-US); " [e]ach munition is
equipped with heat and radar sensors which can scan a
200m diameter area. If a target is detected, the warhead is activated; otherwise it self-destructs " (SummaryReport). These statements, as well as others such as
- " [t]he projectile has sensors that allow it to identify
the target that the human operator intends to hit, and
computers and guidance systems that allow it to select
and engage that target " (WP4-US) - yield two implications. On the one hand, the CCW discourse treats the
detection or identification of a target as part of selecting it, constituting them as one process of selection.
Within the CCW discussion, the International Committee of the Red Cross noted that a " weapon system with
autonomy in its critical functions " is one " that can
select (i.e. search for or detect, identify, track, select)
and attack (i.e. use force against, neutralize, damage or
destroy) targets without human intervention " (WP5-BR,
ICRC). Thus, detection or identification is seen as a synonym or subcategory, respectively, for selecting. This
already implies the significance of an autonomous
identification of a target with respect to its actual, fixating selection.
On the other hand, it becomes clear that the identification or detection of targets is another critical function
which is to be distinguished from the ultimate selection

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