Science & Technology

Lobbyists call for ban on 'killer robots'

By T.K. Randall
May 30, 2013 ·  13 comments

Image Credit: Boston Dynamics Robots that can be deployed to the battlefield and then left to make their own decisions on whether or not to fire on a target are in development in several countries including the US, UK and Israel. Unsurprisingly, the concept has sparked considerable protest with campaigners calling for a ban on military robots that cut out the human decision making process.

One of the big concerns is that if the robot makes a decision itself, who is ultimately responsible for it ? Whether or not such robots could ever be trusted to make the right call is also a matter of some debate. "The traditional approach is that there is a warrior, and there is a weapon," said Christof Heyns of the UN. "But what we now see is that the weapon becomes the warrior, the weapon takes the decision itself."[!gad]Robots that can be deployed to the battlefield and then left to make their own decisions on whether or not to fire on a target are in development in several countries including the US, UK and Israel. Unsurprisingly, the concept has sparked considerable protest with campaigners calling for a ban on military robots that cut out the human decision making process.

One of the big concerns is that if the robot makes a decision itself, who is ultimately responsible for it ? Whether or not such robots could ever be trusted to make the right call is also a matter of some debate. "The traditional approach is that there is a warrior, and there is a weapon," said Christof Heyns of the UN. "But what we now see is that the weapon becomes the warrior, the weapon takes the decision itself."

Source: BBC News | Comments (13)

Tags: