Yes. Autonomous weapons systems don't make much sense on patrol for a long time, but as area-denial systems, they're already past viable and it's surprising the

Yes. Autonomous weapons systems don't make much sense on patrol for a long time, but as area-denial systems, they're already past viable and it's surprising they're not deployed. I think there is a big argument to be made for their ethicality over landmines: unlike landmines, they are easy to deactivate and can be made highly visible while remaining effective. I don't think this makes them ethical, but I do believe that we have to consider how that changes their potential uses. There's an argument that it's far safer if we have hard rules around certain areas - "Enter a 500m radius around this military base moving more than 5mph and you will be shot many times" - than if we have fuzzy ones around guards and schedules. Certainties are often better than including a fuzzy human in the loop, which is why electrical installers all put their own lock on the switch rather than assigning a coordinator.