There is a growing research field exploring how autonomous drones can enhance emergency response effectiveness. Integrating these (artificial) agents into existing emergency teams and workflows may significantly impact established accountability relationships. This paper examines how autonomous drones affect accountability attribution within complex socio-technical systems. Drawing on two real-life field trials in firefighting, the study reveals substantial uncertainty around accountability when drones are organizationally deployed. Using Bovens' accountability framework, two challenges are identified: (1) uncertainty about the role of drones within hierarchical structures, leading to confused accountability ascriptions; and (2) new forms of human-drone interactions introducing additional accountability-relevant issues. Based on these insights, the paper proposes actionable recommendations to support the responsible integration of autonomous drones into firefighting operations without undermining accountability. These findings offer practical guidance for policymakers and contribute to further research on accountability in autonomous systems.

翻译：目前，关于自主无人机如何提升应急响应效能的研究领域正不断发展。将这些（人工）智能体整合到现有应急团队与工作流程中，可能对既有的问责关系产生显著影响。本文探讨了自主无人机在复杂社会技术系统内如何影响问责归因。通过两场真实消防实地试验，研究发现，在组织化部署无人机时，问责机制存在显著的不确定性。运用博文斯的问责框架，本研究识别出两大挑战：（1）无人机在层级结构中的角色不明确，导致问责归因混乱；（2）人机互动的新形式引发了额外的问责相关问题。基于这些发现，本文提出了可行的建议，以支持在不削弱问责机制的前提下，将自主无人机负责任地整合到消防行动中。这些发现为政策制定者提供了实践指导，并有助于推动自主系统问责机制的进一步研究。