Autonomous computer systems and robots in recent years have demonstrated their ability to perform a remarkable array of complex tasks, from running and jumping to playing musical instruments to driving cars.
But there is one thing many scientists and ethicists say robots should never be allowed to do: target enemies on the battlefield and decide on their own when to take human life.
Once the stuff of science fiction, the idea of killer robots is no longer a remote possibility but an easy-to-imagine offshoot of current technology, experts warn. Drones and other military machines can already be piloted remotely. The step to a machine that directs itself in battle is not only plausible but practically inevitable unless the world acts to prohibit their use.
“We are not talking about Terminator,” said Toby Walsh, a researcher in artificial intelligence at the University of New South Wales in Australia. “We’re talking about much simpler technologies that, at best, are few years away … and many of which we can see in development today.”
Dr. Walsh is among those pressing the United Nations to ban the use of robots as killing machines in war, a development he said would not only raise serious moral questions but also increase the likelihood of violent conflict by removing the inhibition on military and civilian leader that comes with sending human soldiers into harm’s way. Read more