Group Wants Killer Robots Banned
- 11 years ago
This organization wants killer robots banned before it's too late.
Human rights advocates have published a report that calls for an international treaty to ban the development of fully autonomous weapons, or killer robots.
Published by Human Rights Watch and the Harvard Law School’s International Human Rights Clinic, the 50 page report delves into not only the legal and technological aspects of killer robots, but it also gets into the ethical dilemma posed by giving a robot the decision to take a human life.
Steven Goose, Arms Division director at Human Rights Watch, said that “giving machines the power to decide who lives and dies on the battlefield would take technology too far. Human control of robotic warfare is essential to minimizing civilian deaths and injuries.”
The technology for fully autonomous weapons doesn’t exist yet, but the group says we should not wait until it does.
There are already technologies that are heading in that direction including the Navy’s X-47B drone, which is designed to land on an aircraft carrier and refuel itself without human interaction.
One of the problems is that if the robots were to break international laws and make a mistake on the battlefield, who would be responsible?
What do you think? Should autonomous weapons be utilized by the military?
Human rights advocates have published a report that calls for an international treaty to ban the development of fully autonomous weapons, or killer robots.
Published by Human Rights Watch and the Harvard Law School’s International Human Rights Clinic, the 50 page report delves into not only the legal and technological aspects of killer robots, but it also gets into the ethical dilemma posed by giving a robot the decision to take a human life.
Steven Goose, Arms Division director at Human Rights Watch, said that “giving machines the power to decide who lives and dies on the battlefield would take technology too far. Human control of robotic warfare is essential to minimizing civilian deaths and injuries.”
The technology for fully autonomous weapons doesn’t exist yet, but the group says we should not wait until it does.
There are already technologies that are heading in that direction including the Navy’s X-47B drone, which is designed to land on an aircraft carrier and refuel itself without human interaction.
One of the problems is that if the robots were to break international laws and make a mistake on the battlefield, who would be responsible?
What do you think? Should autonomous weapons be utilized by the military?