79-302 Killer Robots? The Ethics, Law, and Politics of Drones and A.I. in War

9 units, Carnegie Mellon University

Unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) have become a central feature of the United States' global counterterrorism strategy since September 11, 2001, and autonomous weapons systems (often called "killer robots" by critics) are increasingly being integrated into military arsenals around the world. According to proponents, drones and autonomous weapons systems are much safer than manned systems, so accurate that they can be used to target individuals and detect threats in real time, and efficient and inexpensive enough to be used for long-term surveillance and protection missions around the globe. According to critics, the use of lethal autonomous weapons systems is problematic because of the obfuscation of historically and legally accepted chains of accountability and responsibility, as well as the difficulty of translating complex decision-making processes including ethical and moral ones into computer code. This course will evaluate these issues through the lenses of law, politics, morality, history, and military strategy.

Prerequisites: none listed

Offered: Fall 2026

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