AI Is Changing Military Morality
Just war theory was developed over centuries—and now must adapt to a new era of technology.
The convergence of artificial intelligence and military technology is reshaping the very foundations of warfare morality, raising concerns that leaders have only recently begun to confront. During Holy Week, a priest visited a Ukrainian drone unit near Zaporizhzhia, offering prayers and consecrating a Gara strike drone before it engaged Russian forces. This demonstrates that even as AI-enabled weapons advance, the involvement of human operators remains crucial.
However, many futuristic weapons envisioned by militaries worldwide lack human operators, potentially making wars easier to initiate and more challenging to control. Pope Leo XIII addressed these issues in his 1891 encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence. The document's ethical constraints for autonomous weapons garnered global attention, as did its challenge to the viability of "just war" theory in the 21st century.
While Pope Leo XIII rightly emphasized that the "just war" theory has been abused and highlighted the need for dialogue and diplomacy, the absence of a shared, intelligible standard by which wars have historically been judged could lead to a loss of accountability. The theory's update is necessary to adapt to mediated warfare, where technology and great-power competition often distance decision-makers from the human costs of conflict.
The just war tradition, which dates back to St. Augustine, remains a critical framework for restraint in violence. It outlines criteria such as a just cause, proper intention, rightful authority, last resort, proportional force, and avoidance of civilian harm. Despite its Western origins, the framework's common features with Chinese tradition could prove beneficial in restraining future conflicts.
As AI integration into military capabilities increases, it is essential to update the just war theory to address the challenges posed by mediated warfare. The strongest evidence for such an update may come from the intersection of technology, morality, and international relations.
Written by urgent.news from Foreign Policy's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
