Summary Experts from around the world have warned on the misuse of robots and AI in weaponry. Photo: Getty
(Web Desk) - Robotics and Artificial Intelligence have long been the center of debate in terms if how they will shape the future of the world. There are dozens of films based on how it can turn into a world where robots are the ultimate killing machine. Many experts on robotics and AI warn on the misuse of such in the weaponry which could lead to an irreversible disaster.
Tesla’s Elon Musk and Google’s Mustafa Suleyman are among the 116 experts from 26 different countries who have signed an open letter to the United Nations urging to halt the use of lethal autonomous weapons which can lead to a third age of war.
According to the Guardian, World’s leading pioneers in robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) have warned and urged United Nations for an outright ban of the development and use of “killer robots”.
Russia’s humanoid robot Fedor, which will be sent to the International Space Station in 2021, is learning how to shoot guns using both hands. Photo: Dmitry Rogozin - Twitter
The leading companies and expertise of AI and robotics have stated in an open letter to UN warning about the consequences of using robots in ammunitions. The founders warn at the review conference of the Convention of Conventional Weapons that it can usher in the “third revolution of war”.
The open letter stated: “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.”
Killer robots are fully autonomous weapons which need no human intervention and can select and engage targets. These kinds of robots do not exist but the advancements in technology are making it possible.
The experts who are against the use believe that it is a threat to humanity and anything that is independent of human intervention should be banned.
The experts and founding members of AI and robotics called the use of AI in lethal autonomous weaponry as “morally wrong” and should be added to the list of weapons banned under the UN’s convention on certain conventional weapons (CCW) which was founded in 1983, the list includes chemical and intentionally blinding laser weapons.
Representational image. Photo: AP
Toby Walsh, professor of artificial intelligence at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, said: “Nearly every technology can be used for good and bad, and artificial intelligence is no different. It can help tackle many of the pressing problems facing society today: inequality and poverty, the challenges posed by climate change and the ongoing global financial crisis.
“However, the same technology can also be used in autonomous weapons to industrialise war. We need to make decisions today choosing which of these futures we want.”
Elon Musk, founder of Tesla among the signatories has repeatedly voiced out on the pro-active regulation of AI, calling it as humanity’s biggest existential threat.
Nobody likes being regulated, but everything (cars, planes, food, drugs, etc) that s a danger to the public is regulated. AI should be too.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 12, 2017
Ryan Gariepy, the founder of Clearpath Robotics said: “Unlike other potential manifestations of AI which still remain in the realm of science fiction, autonomous weapons systems are on the cusp of development right now and have a very real potential to cause significant harm to innocent people along with global instability.”
The International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI), which leads world’s AI conferences, has previously launched an open letter which was signed by thousands of AI and robotics researches including Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking calling for the ban, pushing UN to hold formal talks on the usage of technologies.
