The Next Arms Race? A Military Ethical Reflection on the Effects of Artificial Superintelligence on Drone Warfare and American Counterterrorism

Abstract

The trend towards the automation and robotization of warfare, enabling the exercise of violence from a distance, has been long-present, dating back to such inventions as the bow and arrow that allowed an archer to kill from afar. Today’s military drones now permit an extreme separation between rivals. James Der Derian’s concept of virtuous war encapsulates a certain normative view of current and future wars. A rationale of the actors waging virtuous war is that violence is used in a cleaner way, resulting in ever fewer battle deaths. In this thesis, I argue that the next step in the progression of military weaponry is the inclusion of artificial superintelligence (hereinafter ASI) in the American drone and counterterrorism program. While including this technology into the American war machine may represent a moral objective, I conclude that the use of ASI for military purposes is immoral because accountability becomes indeterminable.