The United Nations convened the Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems in Geneva, Switzerland. Various panels met to discuss issues with LAWS such as emerging technologies, legal and ethical concerns, and military effects. LTC Christopher Korpela, Director of the Robotics Research Center, was selected to be part of the U.S. Delegation and presented on the military effects panel on LAWS in terms of doctrine, future operational environments, test and evaluation processes, and commander’s responsibilities in the employment of weapons systems.
The panel on military effects was made up of military and academic experts from around the world to include Brigadier (Armament corps) Patrick Bezombes - France, Professor Heigo Sato - Takushoku University, Tokyo, Lieutenant Colonel Alan Brown - Ministry of Defence, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Dr. David Shim - KAIST Institute for Robotics, Republic of Korea, and Ms. Lydia Kostopoulos - National Defense University, Washington D.C.
Over 120 countries were present with questions on reliability, proliferation, artificial intelligence, and the role of command authority and control over LAWS. Non-governmental organizations and academic universities also asked questions on collateral damage and the potential for errant behavior of these systems. The Campaign to Stop Killer Robots presented concerns of LAWS during a side panel and has been live tweeting each of the panel events (https://twitter.com/BanKillerRobots/status/930377369768153089).