Tesla chief executive Elon Musk, backed by 116 robotics experts from 26 countries, warned the United Nations (U.N.) that artificial intelligence and autonomous machines are of significant risk to the world.
Recently, the U.N. started formal discussions on artificial intelligence weapons, including drones, tanks, and automated machine guns. Musk and the experts sent an open letter calling for a ban on an arms race of killer robots.
The experts wrote:
“Once developed, lethal autonomous weapons will permit armed conflict to be fought at a scale greater than ever, and at timescales faster than humans can comprehend. These can be weapons of terror, weapons that despots and terrorists use against innocent populations, and weapons hacked to behave in undesirable ways. We do not have long to act. Once this Pandora’s Box is opened, it will be hard to close.”
These professionals have previously warned the public that AI technology and autonomous weapons are attainable within years, rather than decades. While AI can be used for military personnel, experts are afraid that offensive weapons can perform on their own, lowering the need to go to battle, thus resulting in more human losses.
They asked for “morally wrong” lethal autonomous weapons systems to be added to the list of weapons banned under the U.N.’s certain conventional weapons (CCW). However, in 2015, the U.K. opposed a ban on lethal autonomous weapons with the Foreign Office, noting that “international humanitarian law already provides sufficient regulation for this area.”
Source: The Guardian
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