Tech leaders call for end to march of killer robots

Innovators voice concern over AI being used in future weapons

SYDNEY — Scientists and technology leaders have called on the United Nations to take action to stop the proliferation of “killer robots”.

The warning came at the International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Melbourne on Monday, where there was a call to halt the development of weaponry using artificial intelligence as “once this Pandora’s box is opened, it will be hard to close”.

Among those voicing concern was Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, who said that technological advances could revolutionize warfare and create new “weapons of terror” that target innocent people.

Musk joined more than 100 robotics and artificial intelligence entrepreneurs in signing a letter to the UN calling for action to curtail the development of autonomous weapons.

“Lethal autonomous weapons threaten to become the third revolution in warfare,” warned the statement signed by 116 tech luminaries, which included AI expert professor Toby Walsh and James Chow of China’s UBTECH.

“Once developed, they will permit armed conflict to be fought at a scale greater than ever, and at time scales faster than humans can comprehend,” the letter read.

Australian team claims robot crown

The innovators also highlighted the danger that the technology could fall into the wrong hands.

“These can be weapons of terror, weapons that despots and terrorists use against innocent populations, and weapons hacked to behave in undesirable ways,” the letter said.

“We do not have long to act. Once this Pandora’s box is opened, it will be hard to close.”

Both Musk and British astrophysicist Stephen Hawking have regularly warned of the dangers of artificial intelligence.

One expert said autonomous weapons could make war more likely.

“Today the potential loss of human life is a deterrent for conflict initiation and escalation, but when the main casualties are robots, the disincentives change dramatically and the likelihood of conflict increases,” Professor Mary-Anne Williams of the University of Technology Sydney.

She warned a killer robot ban may be disregarded by some nations but would stop “countries such as Australia from developing defensive killer robots, thereby being vulnerable to other countries and groups that ignore the ban”.

Walsh said decisions made today would help shape the “futures we want”.

“Nearly every technology can be used for good and bad, and artificial intelligence is no different,” said Walsh.

“We will want autonomous cars, that technology will be developed whatever we think, there are so many benefits to it. But the same technology with a little modification could be used for very bad ends,” Walsh said.

“We need to make decisions today choosing which of these futures we want. I strongly support the call by many humanitarian and other organisations for an UN ban on such weapons.”

Organizers said the conference, which concludes on Friday, has attracted a record number of participants from China, reflecting a push by Beijing to become a leading player in the field.

A key focus of the event will be looking at the challenges of developing fully autonomous AI systems, program chair Carles Sierra of the Spanish National Research Council said.

A UN group on autonomous weapons had been due to meet Monday but the gathering was postponed until November, according to the group’s website.

In 2015, thousands of researchers and personalities launched an appeal to ban autonomous weapons.

A group of Australian students have been crowned the world’s best robot builders at a competition in the United States.

More than 1,000 secondary school students from 157 countries and regions competed in the inaugural First Global Challenge in Washington, with a group of 17-yearolds from Trinity College in Adelaide emerging victorious.

The robots were required to navigate a fake river and pick up blue or red balls, representing clean water particles and contaminants which had to be removed to make the water suitable for drinking.

Luke Voigt, captain of the Trinity College team, said: “It just felt like, I don’t know, it’s hard to explain. It was definitely a huge honor.”

Once developed, they (autonomous weapons) will permit armed conflict to be fought at a scale greater than ever.”

Statement to UN that was signed by 116 tech luminaries