National Security Law Commons^™

Understanding 'The Loop': Regulating The Next Generation Of War Machines, William Marra, Sonia Mcneil

William Marra

The United States is in the midst of a national debate about the role drone aircraft should play in warfare abroad and law enforcement at home. Armed drones hunt enemies abroad 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Drones have begun to patrol our domestic skies too, on the lookout for suspicious activity. But contemporary drones are merely the “Model T” of robot technology. Today, humans are still very much “in the loop”: humans decide when to launch a drone, where it should fly, and whether it should take action against a suspect. But as drones develop greater autonomy, …