Combat code compliance: International humanitarian law and the development stages of AI for targeting

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into the military domain presents both significant opportunities and profound challenges. International humanitarian law (IHL) offers a critical framework to navigating the opportunities while addressing the risks associated with the deployment of these technologies for targeting. While much of the attention has been dedicated to the legal implications of using these technologies, this thesis seeks to complement these endeavours by offering insights on their pre-deployment stages. To this end, this thesis is divided into four chapters. The first chapter provides readers with an overview of what ‘artificial intelligence’ concretely means and demystifies its applications in the military domain. By exploring the building blocks of AI and some of its key aspects and dimensions, the reader will be equipped with a strong foundational basis for the subsequent legal discussions. The second chapter looks at data as a key intervention point to foster upstream compliance, in the light of its critical role in shaping the performance and outputs of AI technologies. The third chapter delves into select dimensions pertaining to AI’s design and development, namely the permissibility of developing such technologies for anti-personnel targeting, the role and responsibilities of ‘developers’, and the suitability of Article 36 legal reviews. The fourth and final chapter examines the question of uncertainty by formulating IHL’s approach and the subsequent implications of AI’s inherently probabilistic nature. Ultimately, it is hoped that this work will not only reduce the downstream risks from the already-ongoing use of these technologies, but also help States in implementing their obligation to respect and ensure respect for IHL through compliance by design. As these technologies are set to play an increasingly prominent role in shaping the battlefield, it is now more critical than ever to dedicate efforts in ensuring IHL remains central to their development.