This study identifies the dimensions of autonomous decision-making (DADMs), namely the categories and causes of potential risk that one should consider before transferring decision-making capabilities to an intelligent autonomous system (IAS). The objective of this study was to provide some of the tools needed to implement existing policies with respect to the legal, ethical, and militarily effective use of IAS. These tools help to identify and either mitigate or accept the risks associated with the use of IAS that might result in a negative outcome. The 13 identified DADMs were developed from a comprehensive list of 565 “risk elements" drawn from hundreds of documents authored by parties in favor of, and opposed to, the use of autonomy technology in weapons systems. We record these elements in the form of a question so that they can be used by the acquisition community to develop requirements documents that ensure the ethical use of autonomous systems, and be used by military commanders as a risk assessment checklist to ensure that autonomous systems are not used in an unethical manner. In this way, the Department of Defense can make fully-informed risk assessment decisions before developing or deploying autonomous systems."
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