Artificial Intelligence and the obligation to respect and to ensure respect for IHL

Artificial Intelligence is a discipline of science and engineering of building intelligent machine capable of acting with an appropriate forethought to achieve a task in a complex environment. Its technological application in the context of armed conflict has been anticipated, which has caused significant scholarly and public debate primarily concerning the legality of lethal autonomous weapons systems. However, artificial intelligence technology has the potential for far wider applications in military use, such as target recognition, deception, communication, and the research and development of new weapons. Apart from the legality of specific lethal use, consideration therefore must extend to the general legal obligation to respect and to ensure respect for international humanitarian law so as to address a wide range of challenges and opportunities that artificial intelligence uniquely presents. This chapter specifically considers practical measures that States can employ to implement their obligation to respect and ensure respect for international humanitarian law as modern science and technology advances in the area of artificial intelligence.