IEEE - Aerospace and Electronic Systems - July 2021 - 107

Koch
quality assurance processes, these considerations support
responsible action not only in battle, but also on all
levels of responsibility. These considerations correspondtosomeextenttothe
IEEEP7000 Model Process
for Addressing Ethical Concerns During System
Design [47], by which engineers and technologists can
address ethical consideration throughout the various
stages of system initiation, analysis and design.7 The
VDE, the German equivalent of the IEEE, proposes
comparable recommendations [48].
Figure 10.
Transparent criteria development for technology application and
application decisions. ß Fraunhofer FKIE.
SELECTED ASPECTS OF MORAL ASSISTANCE SYSTEMS
In view of the previous discussion, systems engineering
for designing responsible cognitive and volitive assistance
tools, which technically support ethically and
legally compliant behavior, has to fulfill three major
requirements:
1. situational awareness to enable responsible action;
2. cognitive assistance to identify responsible options
to act;
3. comprehensible plausibility ofthe proposed options.
These are basic for ensuring responsible decisions
before, during, and after the mission in order to achieve
clearly defined ends and intermediate purposes in a
given operating theatre that take into account to what
extent collateral effects can be tolerated. Figure 10
illustrates how these requirements could be met in the
development and deployment of assistance systems for
responsible action.
1. Transparent criteria development must accompany
military capability development from the outset. Philosophers,
pastors, and lawyers bring in basic insights.
Legal standards that apply to defense research, development,
and procurement are indispensable: " The
sharpest weapon of democracy is legislation. For this
reason, civil society cannot help but call on its governments
to establish binding standards for cognitive
weapons systems and to make the corresponding agreements
under international law " [46]. Finally yet importantly,
the experience of commanders and soldiers
must be taken into account. Analogous to industrial
JULY 2021
2. Any technology that complies with these criteria must
be integrated into military procedures and processes,
e.g., in appropriately formulated concepts of operations.
Evolutionary innovation, on the one hand,
replaces outdated technology while letting procedures
and processes largely unchanged, whereas disruptive
innovation, on the other hand, opens up fundamentally
new applications, which require both conceptual
and organizational changes. Ultimately, the innovative
potential ofdefense digitization is only realizable
ifit takes into account the mind set and esprit de corps
ofthe armed forces and, last but not least, the maxims
oflicensing and qualification bodies.
3. Mission-relevant decisions can be evaluated and correspond
to the mission-specific RoE that define the
framework for action in a legally binding manner.
RoE, thus, have to have a direct impact on the
technical systems design, but can be so complex that
computer-aided " synthetic legal advisors " are indispensable
for identifying RoE-compliant options for
action. In the spatially delimited and accelerated
hyperwar, ethically relevant knowledge itself must
be made electronically accessible.
7The IEEE P7000 Working Group places particular emphasis on the
notion of " values " that are to be systematically elicited, conceptualized,
prioritized, and finally respected via appropriate systems
design [S. Spiekermann (2018), " Carousel Kittens: The Case for a
Value-Based IoT, " IEEE Pervasive Computing, vol. 17, no. 2, pp.
62-65, Apr.-Jun. 2018.]. The philosophical background is Material
Value Ethics, first established by May Scheler (1874-1928) and
Nikolai Hartmann (1882-1950). A core trait is its focus on virtue
ethics, i.e., emphasis on culturally or socially desirable character
traits. This design approach aims to maximize positive value potential
and minimize value harms for people in IT-rich environments.
We do honor the intention of this approach. Communities must
share common values. This is particularly true in democracies that
are only stable if the majority values rights and duties. They are
based on law, however, not on moral obligation. Communities that
are committed to individual freedom require observance of its laws,
not the conformity with values that underlie its legal system. It may
even be dangerous to speak of " community values " because there is
a tendency to undermine the legal principle in favor of a
" dictatorship of beliefs. " There have been and there are
" communities of values, " where values have taken or take precedence
over the law. We primarily have to talk about norms, not values
only.
IEEE A&E SYSTEMS MAGAZINE
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IEEE - Aerospace and Electronic Systems - July 2021

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