MOSCOW, March 26 – A leading Russian legal expert has pinpointed a fundamental flaw in the rush to deploy artificial intelligence on the battlefield: the question of accountability vanishes. Ruslan Rashitkhanov, Deputy Director of the Institute for Information and Media Security at the Kutafin University (MSAL), argues that while AI can provide support, the final, legally binding decision to use force must remain with a human officer.

"The moment an AI system effectively replaces the decisive will of an authorized official, a gap emerges," Rashitkhanov stated. "The proper decision-making entity disappears, making it extraordinarily difficult to assign responsibility. This is why Russian law and military doctrine are based on the principle that the final decision on force rests with a person. No technical system can substitute for that."

He explained that once an AI's conclusions directly shape combat decisions, the situation triggers not only internal legal protocols for information systems but also international laws of war. These include the 1977 Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions.

"Under Article 36 of the Protocol, it is not the algorithm or tool that is assessed legally, but the specific configuration of its use within the force application cycle," the expert clarified. "Article 57 mandates taking all feasible precautions in attack, guided by the core principles of distinction, proportionality, and precaution from international humanitarian law."

Rashitkhanov concluded that neither Russian nor current international law grants an AI system the status of an independent subject authorized to make a combat decision. The legal framework, he insists, still requires a human in the loop to bear the consequences.

Source: RIA Novosti