Killer robots ‘inevitable’ in military and ban would be ignored, says general

Former head of Joint Forces Command says outlawing of autonomous weapons would be futile

THE rise of military “killer robots” is almost inevitable and any attempt at an international ban will struggle to stop an arms race, according to a former defence chief responsible for preparing for the future of warfare.

The potential advantages of artificially intelligent war machines that can make decisions, learn and open fire without human control will see countries face growing pressure to adopt the technology, despite ethical misgivings.

Gen Sir Richard Barrons told The Sunday Telegraph that a pre-emptive international ban such as the one called for by technology luminaries last week is only likely to be flouted by unscru- pulous countries. The retired senior officer spoke after more than 100 technology leaders wrote an open letter calling on the United Nations to outlaw so-called lethal autonomous weapons. Campaign groups have also warned the technology will lead to more civilian casualties and abuses.

Sir Richard until last year led the UK’s Joint Forces Command, which has responsibility for preparing for future conflicts. He said the military was facing a revolution based on technology set to transform the civilian world.

Technology experts predict artificial intelligence will soon be used to make flying drones, armoured vehicles and submarines that can find and recognise targets, make decisions on whether to open fire and learn as they go.

Kalashnikov, the Russian arms manufacturer, last month announced a machine gun-armed “fully automated combat module” it claimed can identify targets and make decisions on its own.

Elon Musk, the chief of Tesla, and 115 robotics and artificial intelligence ex- perts warned in their letter that robots would lead to wars “at a scale greater than ever, and at timescales faster than humans can comprehend”.

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

Britain has said its weapons will always maintain human control.

Sir Richard, who retired last year, said: “If you ask the Ministry of Defence here, they will say as a matter of policy we are not going to do autonomous capability. There will always be a man in the loop. But if you ask other people around the world, they don’t have the same value struggle.

“Even if you don’t plan to have this capability yourself, you are going to have to deal with the fact that machines are going to turn up that are designed to be lethal and there’s no man controlling them at the time.”

Civilian firms building driverless cars and computer networks that can learn are already well ahead of defence giants, robotics experts believe.