Ethics of Emerging Weapons Technologies

University of Notre DameSpring 2012

Important Points• US has experienced decades of war• Different and challenging national security

environment• Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines are

dedicated and exceptionally good at what they do• Uniformed military are the last to want a resort to

armed conflict• Intent is to raise awareness of ethical issues and

develop a framework for thinking and deciding

Areas of Interest

• Research and Development– Does the mere act of development of a technology or

modification of a technology to military purposes raise ethical issues?

• Deployment and Operations– Has sufficient consideration been given to the

consequences of use of a new form of technology to national security purposes?

• Applicability of Just War Theory and International Humanitarian Law

Plan

• Historical Ethics Questions• Changed Environment• National Security Research• New Technologies• Potential Ethics Issues

Some Past Weapons Ethics Issues• Crossbow versus Longbow

– Pope Innocent II (1139) forbade its use

• Chemical warfare

• Biological Warfare• Strategic Bombing in WWII • Nuclear Weapons

The Changed Environment

…and Social Media!

8

A Few Aspects of Our World Today

Economic climate

Competition for resources

Fundamentalism, radicalism

Astounding commercial technology – dual use -capabilities

Shape-shifting, technologically sophisticated – and exceptionally brutal - enemies

Public expectations of intelligence perfection - connecting the dots

Deluge of multi-lingual structured and unstructured data, social media

Weapons proliferation

Change that is too rapid can be deeply divisive; if only an elite can keep up, the rest of us will grow increasingly mystified about how the world works. We can understand natural biology, subtle as it is, because it holds still. But how will we ever be able to understand quantum computing or nanotechnology if its subtlety keeps accelerating away from us?

Constant technological revolution makes planning difficult, and a society that stops planning for the future is likely to become a brittle society.

Stewart Brand, Time, June 19, 2000

Keeping Up With the Pace of Change(An Argument for Scientific Literacy)

Implications of New Environment and Technologies(Lucas, Testimony, National Academy of Sciences)

• Familiar refrain– Our traditional concepts of warfare and its justification are

outmoded– Existing laws of war and moral constraints regarding conventional

combat are useless– Our conceptions of both must either be cast aside or radically

reformulated• Danger of threat inflation, exaggeration, hysteria• Concepts of Just War and International Humanitarian Law

remain valid– Must think hard and speak cogently about their meaning and

application

(BGen (Ret) Richard O’Meara)

National Security Research• Types of Research

– Basic– Advanced– Applied/Developmental

• Defense Department– Service Laboratories– DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency)

• A special case

• Intelligence Agencies• Department of Energy

IC Organization(Intelligence Community)

Central Intelligence Agency

An Important Note

• The Military and The Intelligence Agencies operate under different laws– Military: Title 10, United States Code– Intelligence: Title 50, United States Code

• And a different set of international norms• However, ethical and moral boundaries still

apply

[ Some military projects today ]

• Cyberweapons• Cyborg insects• Robots that eat• Energy weapons• Telepathic communication• Quantum computing• Submersible aircraft• Exoskeletons• Enhanced warfighters• Dynamic armor• Invisible shields and cloaks• Accelerated therapeutics• Real-time language translations• Programmable matter

21Copyright 2011 © Ethics + Emerging Sciences Group @ Cal Poly

New Technologies for Discussion

• Soldier enhancements• EM and Non-lethal Weapons• Cyberwarfare• Unmanned systems/robots• Massive data mining and sensors

Example Types of Enhancements

• Pharmaceutical– Pilot “Go” pills (legal)– Steroid and other drug use in combat zones (not)

• Physical– Exoskeltons– Eye implants

• Neurological– Neural control (TransCranialMagneticStimulation)– Neuromodulation

[ Military enhancements ]

• Accelerated Learning• Crystalline Cellulose Conversion to Glucose • Education Dominance• Enabling Stress Resistance • Exoskeleton• Neovision2• Neurotechnology for Intelligence Analysts• Peak Soldier Performance (Metabolic Dominance)• PowerSwim• RealNose• Synthetic Telepathy• Wingsuit (Next-Gen Parachute System)• Z-Man

24Copyright 2011 © Ethics + Emerging Sciences Group @ Cal Poly

Soldier Enhancement

NIA: Neurotechnology for Intelligence Analysts

Electromagnetic and Non-Lethal Weapons

• Lasers• Radiofrequency• Audio• Odor• Incapacitating agents

[ Less-than-lethal weapons ]

• Laser missiles• Blinding weapons• Pain rays and fences• Sonic weapons• Electric weapons • Soft weapons • Projectile netting• Smelly weapons• Other gas and sprays

Copyright 2011 © Ethics + Emerging Sciences Group @ Cal Poly 28

Cyber

• Defense• Exploitation• Attack• Sabbotage

[ Military robotics ]

• Ground robots• Aerial robots• Marine robots• Space robots• Immobile/fixed robots• Sentry robots• Humanoid robots• Chemical robots or “blob-bots”• Biological-machine integrations or

“cyborgs”

30Copyright 2011 © Ethics + Emerging Sciences Group @ Cal Poly

Unmanned Systems/Robots

Data Mining and Ubiquitous Sensors

• Credit cards • EZ Pass• Telephone records, location services• Social media• Movie rentals, downloads• On-line activity of any kind• Geospatial Information Systems (GIS)• Cameras everywhere (ATM, traffic lights, license plate

readers)• Facial recognition systems• And…?

Connected World=Big Data

7/25/2008—Google passes 1 trillion URLs

$187/second—Cost of last Ebay outage

1 Billion—PCs and Laptops

789.4 PB—Size of YouTube

2/4/2011—IPv4 address space exhausted

340x1038—Size of IPv6 address space

100 million gigabytes—Size of Google’s index

144 million—Number of Tweets per day

1.7 trillion—Items in a startup’s DB

90PB—Facebook data holdings

4.3 Billion—Mobile devices

6.9 billion people

700 million Facebook users

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Data Fusion Big Data Problem

Integrated AnalyticsStructured Data

Images

Foreign-language

Text

English-language

Text

Audio8/18/02500 lbPicric Acid

Saif al Adel

ZaidKhayr

DateAmountMaterialSellerBuyer

Sensor DataVideo

Advantages of New Technologies

• Unmanned– Reduced risk to our warfighters

• Enhancements– Provide tactical advantage, reduce our risk

• Non-Lethal– Offer viable options in appropriate scenarios

• Cyber– Potentially reduce harm, physical damage

• Big Data Techniques– Better security, consumer choice and access

Possible Issues of New Technologies(Enhancement)

• Reversibility• Altered levels of fear and aggression• Enhancement in absence of effort• Possibility of leakage into society, inequality• Increased government regulation

Possible Issues of New Technologies(Cyberwarfare)

• Difficulty distinguishing between exploitation and attack

• Great opportunity for misperception• Great cost and damage• Possibility of non-state actors• Difficulty in attribution and retaliation• Possible indiscriminate or disproportionate

retaliation

Possible Issues of New Technologies(Robotics/Unmanned systems)

• May lower the threshold for violence• Perception by local populace of cowardice• Danger of contractors applying lethal force• Uncertainty and risk of using autonomous

systems

Possible Issues of New Technologies(EM and Non-Lethal Systems)

• Instantaneous, zero-time-flight• Reduced danger could increase potential for

use• Could embolden adversaries• “Non-lethality” may encourage lax control of

force application• Undetectable harm may encourage use as

punishment

Possible Issues of New Technologies(Data Mining and Ubiquitous Sensors)

• Re-definition of privacy– Unrealistic expectations?

• Information theft and nefarious use– Frequently occurs

• Medical/genetic information

Readings of Interest

• From Crossbow to H-Bomb, Bernard and Fawn M. Brodie, Indiana University Press, 1962

• Science and Human Values, Jacob Bronowski, Harper and Row, 1956