Call to ban k iller robots
100 scientists in plea amid fear that terrorists will turn them against us
MORE than 100 of the world’s leading scientists have called for a ban on military robots amid fears the devastating weapons could fall under the control of despots and terrorists.
In a letter to the United Nations, they warned that ‘lethal autonomous’ technology would offer the power to launch overwhelming attacks ‘at timescales faster than humans can comprehend’.
Senior military figures in Britain echoed their fears yesterday, warning that enemies could hack into the weapons – such as robots, drones and autonomous machine guns – and turn them against their owners. Sir Michael Graydon, former head of the RAF, said he feared too much reliance on both robots and drones would leave the UK exposed to cyber-attack.
‘I have a great concern when it comes to things being controlled electronically as the enemy can tap into them,’ he said. ‘And if someone can tap into them, then they can alter them and then you are getting into dangerous territory.
‘This is what is happening every day in cyber space, things are being taken over that are supposed to be fool-proof. It would be very dangerous to go too far in that direction.’
He said autonomous technology required a ‘huge leap of faith.’
The Ministry of Defence is pursuing robotic technology, but says none of the weapons or equipment being developed will be able to kill without a human element being involved.
A spokesman said: ‘It’s right that our weapons are operated by real people capable of mak
‘Third revolution in warfare’
ing complex decisions and, even as they become increasingly high-tech, they will always be under human control.’
Even so, fears are growing that humanity is close to the point of no return. The scientists, led by Elon Musk, the billionaire founder of Tesla, warned that killer robots will usher in a ‘third revolution in warfare’ after gunpowder and nuclear arms.
‘We do not have long. Once this Pandora’s Box is opened, it will be hard to close,’ they said.
‘Once developed, they 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.’
The letter was signed by 116 robotics experts from 26 nations, also including Mustafa Suleyman, founder of Google’s DeepMind artificial intelligence unit.
Their warning comes as the UN is to begin talks about automated weapons, which include types of drones, tanks and automated machine guns.
They called for ‘morally wrong’ lethal autonomous weapons to be banned under the UN convention already used to outlaw chemical weapons.
Lethal autonomous technology is already believed to be in use in South Korea, where ‘SGR-1’ machine-gun robots mounted on the border can detect potential targets two miles away, using a heat, motion and voice sensors.
At the moment, the robots notify a human controller who decides whether to fire. However, they are said to be capable of firing independently.