IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - December 2020 - 45

complex systems the human role will have various postures in relation to the machine " (WP2-ES/FI).

Socio-Technological Values of LAWS

Code Name

The NGO Article 36 has issued a briefing within the CCW
forum [75], in which it points to the question of valuesensitive design while identifying certain " key elements "
for MHC: 1) predictability, reliability, and transparency of
technology; 2), information accuracy regarding planned
outcome, operation, function of technology, and context
of use; 3) " timely human action and a potential for timely
intervention, " and 4) " accountability to a certain standard " [75]. We assume such elements of MHC to be
implementable into technology. Our analysis reveals
more important values and looks for mutually tense and
supportive relationships, respectively, to put them into
context. Thus, we identified 23 values and looked for frequencies and locations of occurrences (see Figure 3).
The codes " accountability, " " cultural_issues, " " gender, " " scope, " " time, " and " verification " were not always
used for the explicit description of technology, but also
with respect to general procedural issues. Yet, such
phrases implied that participants found the respective
characteristic very important. Therefore, they are included as relevant socio-technological values that are
reflected in the conceptualization of LAWS and interaction. The other value-grasping codes were linked directly to technological requirements.

time
predictability
reliability
productivity
accountability
explainability
safety
security
precision
scope
transparency
intervention
verification
information_flow_accuracy
trust
robustness
gender
sustainability
feasibility
cultural_issues
suitability
prevention
intransparency

Most crucial are the codes " time, " " predictability, " and
" reliability " (77, 74, and 70 codings). Additionally, references coded as statements regarding " productivity " (n = 64),
" accountability " (n = 58), " explainability " (n = 53), or " safety " (n = 50) could be made out at a relatively high frequency, while CCW documents surprisingly referred to issues
of (human) " intervention " (n = 21) or an accurate flow of
information (n = 14) only at a relatively moderate rate. Yet,
not every technological requirement considered necessarily has a supportive impact with respect to the establishment of MHC. Thus, we screened arguments pointing out
MHC or human control.
For example, a statement formulated by Brazil stresses that " meaningful human control can only be
achieved if the role of the human [...] is such as to
ensure [...] the capacity to intervene and override
machine functions when operationally possible " (6bBR, own emp.). Furthermore, the non-governmental
actor ICRAC defines " sufficient time for deliberation on
the nature of targets [...] [as one of the] necessary conditions for meaningful human control of weapons "
(ICRAC-WP3, own emp.).
Besides having the possibility to intervene - also
with respect to the issue of time - France, perhaps taking a less critical stance on LAWS compared to ICRAC,
points out with regards to " [d]eveloping autonomy and
human-machine interaction " that [t]he human command
must be aware of and be able to assess system

74
64

77

70

58
53
50
32
31
27
26
22
20
14
13
12
10
9
8
7
7
7
2
0

10

20

30

40
Frequencies

50

60

70

80

FIGURE 3. Occurrences of socio-technological values.

DECEMBER 2020

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IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - December 2020

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