24 CHAPTER 1 1 We have chosen to base the scenario on Airborne drones because these systems are being deployed in current conflicts, for example in Ukraine and Gaza, whilst unmanned ground-based systems are primarily in a testing phase and, as far as we know, not yet widely deployed on a battlefield. Underwater unmanned systems are also being used in current conflicts, but due to the underwater environment and lack of people in the vicinity of the system the risk on collateral damage is minimal. The scenario reads as follows: An Autonomous Weapon System provides force protection for soldiers that are clearing the road from improvised explosive devices. The Autonomous Weapon System is equipped with surveillance equipment, weapons (airto-ground missiles) and flies autonomously in the Area of Operation. It is programmed to avoid flying over a restricted operating zone and an electronic warfare threat. The Autonomous Weapon System is equipped with facial and image recognition software for people, weapons and explosives. It is programmed with different options to engage when it recognizes a threat to the soldiers that are clearing the road. The Autonomous Weapon System detects movement behind a large rock near a narrow part of the road at a distance of 300 meters of the road clearance soldiers. 1.3 RESEARCH APPROACH In this research, we apply the Value-Sensitive Design (VSD) method as research approach. The VSD is a three-partite approach that allows for considering human values throughout the design process of technology (Figure 1). It is an iterative process for the conceptual, empirical and technological investigation of human values implicated by the design (Davis & Nathan, 2015; Friedman & Kahn Jr, 2003). The conceptual investigation consists of two parts: (1) identifying the direct stakeholders, i.e. those who will use the technology, and the indirect stakeholders, i.e. those whose lives are influenced by the technology, and (2) identifying and defining the values that the use of the technology implicates. The empirical investigation looks into the understanding and experience of the stakeholders in a context relating to the technology and implicated values will be examined. In the technical investigation, the specific features of the technology are analysed (Davis & Nathan, 2015). The VSD can be used as a roadmap for engineers and students to incorporate ethical considerations into the design (Cummings, 2006). There has been some critique voiced regarding the VSD approach. One of the concerns Davis and Nathan (2015) mention is that the VSD posits that certain values are universal,
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