State Responsibility for Artificial Intelligence-Based Autonomous Weapons: An Analysis of the Integration of International Humanitarian Law and Economics in the Russia-Ukraine Conflict

Abstract

This study aims to examine the shortcomings of the current regime governing state responsibility for the use of LAWS and to reconstruct the accountability framework through the integration of International Humanitarian Law and Economic approaches. This study employs normative legal research using legal, conceptual, case studies, and Law and Economics approaches. The primary legal materials consist of international treaties, the Draft Articles on State Responsibility for Wrongful Acts at the International Level, and relevant International Humanitarian Law (IHL) instruments, while secondary materials come from scientific literature and reports issued by international organizations. The findings indicate that the existing IHL regime is still largely human-centric and therefore cannot adequately accommodate autonomous decision-making by AI-based weapon systems. While autonomous weapon systems enhance military operational efficiency, they simultaneously create significant legal uncertainty, institutional risks, and substantial socio-economic costs. According to the World Bank's Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (RDNA4), the conflict has caused approximately US$176 billion in direct physical damage and an estimated US$524 billion in recovery and reconstruction needs, demonstrating that the economic burden of modern warfare extends far beyond the battlefield. From a Law and Economics perspective, although LAWS increase military efficiency, they simultaneously generate institutional uncertainty, transaction costs, negative externalities, moral hazard, and significant economic losses that outweigh their private military benefits. This study proposes a reconstructed state responsibility framework by integrating International Humanitarian Law with Law and Economics, emphasizing meaningful human control, legal certainty, state accountability, and global AI governance as fundamental pillars for regulating autonomous weapons systems.

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence; Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems; International Humanitarian Law; State Responsibility; Law and Economics