Kim Caesar (Daystar University; Kenya School of Law) and Sarah Nashati have posted Killing by Algorithm: The Crisis of Algorithmic Warfare on International Humanitarian Law on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
Although algorithmic warfare has emerged as a defining feature of contemporary armed conflict, its implications for International Humanitarian Law remain insufficiently examined. Across conflicts such as Gaza, Lebanon and Iran, algorithmic systems now play a central role in identifying targets, generating targeting recommendations and structuring the pace of military operations. These systems operate at a speed and scale that strain the conditions under which legal judgment is meant to occur. This article argues that International Humanitarian Law continues to apply in full to algorithmic warfare. The principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution remain legally applicable. The difficulty, however, lies in how they are applied in practice. Presently, decision-making now unfolds under compressed timelines, with limited visibility into the basis of algorithmic outputs and within institutional settings that constrain independent human assessment. Under such conditions, the exercise of legal judgment becomes attenuated and, at times, nominal. Drawing on recent wars around the world, the article shows how these pressures affect targeting practices, shape patterns of harm and complicate the attribution of responsibility across States, individuals and corporate actors. It then examines the limits of existing accountability frameworks and the growing role of commercial technology providers in the conduct of hostilities. The article concludes that preserving the integrity of International Humanitarian Law in this context requires clearer guidance on what compliance demands when decision-making is mediated by algorithmic systems, stronger transparency and audit requirements and a legally grounded standard of meaningful human control. The choices made now in response to these developments will shape how the law governs the next generation of warfare.
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