From March 25 to 29, the Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapons met at the United Nations Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons in Geneva, Switzerland.
10 Things You Should Know About Killer Robots
1. What are Killer Robots? Actually, pretty much what they sound like. These are autonomous weapons systems that could kill human beings without any human involvement in the critical functions of target selection and the employment of lethal force. Lethal autonomous weapons systems could take many physical forms, and could also operate in large numbers and distributed architectures. The emergence …
Losing Humanity
What are autonomous weapons systems (aka “killer robots”)? Why are they problematic? Click on the image below to find out.
Should you worry about Killer Robots?
Last week, the Group of Governmental Experts met at the United Nations Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) in Geneva, Switzerland. Many countries, including Canada, provided statements on autonomous weapons, advancing discussions that started 4 years ago. Project Ploughshares was one of the several civil society organizations observing the meetings. In a surprising turn of events, China stated that it …
The case for the Petrov rule
On September 26, 1983, Stanislav Petrov, a 44-year-old lieutenant-colonel in the Soviet Air Defence Forces, made a critical decision (Chan 2017). Petrov was on duty at Serpukhov-15, a control centre outside Moscow that monitored the Soviet Union’s Oko early-warning satellite system, which identified ballistic missile launches, mainly by the United States. The Soviet Union/Russia used these satellites until 2015. Petrov …
Canadians among experts calling for UN action on killer robots
On August 21, 116 robotics experts from 26 countries, including Canada, signed a letter calling for the United Nations to take action on the issue of lethal autonomous weapons systems, commonly known as killer robots. The letter comes at the start of the 2017 International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI) in Melbourne, Australia. An open letter signed by more …
Faster, higher, stronger
Civil society organizations gather to strengthen campaigns to protect civilians from armed violence On October 15-16 Project Ploughshares, along with more than 100 members of other civil society organizations (CSOs), participated in Humanitarian Disarmament Forum 2016, the fifth annual forum in New York. This year’s objective was to review and strengthen instruments, such as campaigns, to protect civilians from the …
On killer police robots and weaponization of autonomous systems
Recent developments in autonomous systems, such as self-driving cars and mobile robotics, are exciting. Proponents promise that they will reduce the number of casualties in car accidents and allow machines to do dangerous jobs. But advances in autonomous technology have still raised concerns. One relates to its weaponization. In early July Dallas police used a bomb-disposal robot to kill a …
On killer robots and human control
Debating the sophistication of artificial intelligence in lethal autonomous weapons systems Lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS) are more commonly known as killer robots. LAWS would select, target, and kill without any human input. While these weapons systems do not yet exist, leading scientists agree that they soon will. Published in The Ploughshares Monitor Volume 37 Issue 2 Summer 2016 by Branka Marijan Some feel …
How should Canada respond to the threat of killer robots?
Lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS), more commonly known as killer robots, are an emerging topic in international security discussions. These weapons would be able to target, select, and kill without any human input. There is still debate about the timeframe for the development of LAWS, with some experts suggesting that such technology is only a few years away, while others …
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