Nations like China, Russia and Israel also operate drone fleets, and drones were used in the war between Azerbaijan and Armenia last year.
Experts were divided about the importance of the findings in the U.N. report on Libya, with some saying it underscored how murky “autonomy” can be.
Zachary Kallenborn, a research affiliate who studies drone warfare, terrorism and weapons of mass destruction at the University of Maryland, said the report suggested that for the first time, a weapons systems with artificial intelligence capability operated autonomously to find and attack humans.
“What’s clear is this drone was used in the conflict,” said Mr. Kallenborn, who wrote about the report in the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. “What’s not clear is whether the drone was allowed to select its target autonomously and whether the drone, while acting autonomously, harmed anyone. The U.N. report heavily implies, but does not state, that it did.”