Operator decision-making in the deployment of lethal autonomous weapon systems: a scoping review

Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems (LAWS) have the capability to survey the environment, determine which objects should be targeted, and act on that determination, improving the likelihood of achieving mission objectives. There is a risk that the inappropriate deployment of LAWS will result in significant, unintended collateral damage. A scoping review was undertaken to identify research concerning the factors that impact operators’ decisions to deploy LAWS. Understanding these factors could avoid inappropriate deployments, enabling small military forces to safely and effectively contend with larger forces. Databases used for a primary scan included Scopus, ProQuest, and Web of Science. Of 642 screened publications, none directly examined the decision-making processes of field operators tasked with deploying LAWS. Rather, the majority of publications referred to the governance, design and the development of LAWS. Drawing on the Socio-Technical Framework (SOTEF), gaps relating to operators’ decision to deploy LAWS were identified, including organisational culture, training, system characteristics, human factors, and operational demands. These gaps in the literature provide opportunities for future research in the field.