Structural Insufficiency of Meaningful Human Control in Autonomous Weapons: Foundations for a Post-Anthropocentric Normative Reorientation; [Insuficiência estrutural do controle humano significativo em armas autônomas: fundamentos para uma reorientação normativa pós-antropocêntrica]

Ramos-Zaga F.A. · Estudos Internacionais (2025) · DOI: 10.5752/p.2317-773x.2025v13n2p149-165

Resumen

The rapid advancement of Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems (LAWS) has fundamentally altered the dynamics of armed conflict, raising profound ethical and normative challenges that call into question the continuity of human agency in automated lethal decision-making. In response to this scenario, the present study critically examines the notion of Meaningful Human Control (MHC) as a central normative device in the regulation of LAWS. The objective is to construct a philosophical framework that ethically grounds the demand for MHC, assesses its operational viability in advanced military environments, and proposes a reconceptualization that integrates agency, dignity, and moral responsibility. The findings reveal that MHC, in its current formulation, suffers from structural limitations rooted in algorithmic opacity, behavioral unpredictability, and the fragmentation of moral responsibility, which collectively undermine its role as an ethical safeguard in autonomous warfare. The study concludes by proposing a normative shift that challenges existing legal and technical architectures, advocating for the establishment of binding international regulatory frameworks capable of upholding fundamental moral principles in a context increasingly shaped by the algorithmic mediation of violence.

Instituciones: Universidad Privada del Norte