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A global coalition is calling on Canada and other governments to ban autonomous weapons that would select targets and use force without further human intervention or oversight.
Join a panel of four experts for a 90-minute discussion that will provide an overview of the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, its principle concerns, and recent developments at the UN, including Canada’s role and possible implications of the recent federal election in Canada.
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“A ban on killer robots is the ethical choice”, Ottawa Citizen, July 31, 2015 C9
This opinion editorial, published by the Ottawa Citizen, describes the recent “Open Letter from AI & Robotics Researchers”, calling for a ban on offensive autonomous weapons and explains why I am a signatory. In addition to concerns about a global AI arms race, I argue that the decision to ban killer robots is the ethical choice because delegating life-or-death decisions to machines crosses a fundamental moral line. I further argue that playing Russian roulette with the lives of others can never be justified merely on the basis of efficacy. In the end, the decision whether to ban killer robots is not only a fundamental issue of human rights; it goes to the core of our humanity.
Read moreIn this 25 minute interview with Roger Kinkade and Rob Breakenridge of Newstalk770, CHQR Radio, I talk at length about autonomous weapons and the AI community’s call to ban “killer robots”. We talk about what a killer robot is, why they are likely to be developed, what the dangers are if we don’t ban them and a number of broader issues regarding the future of artificial intelligence.
“Will the growth of killer robots set off a global arms race?”, CTV, Tuesday August 4, 2015
In this 5 minute interview with Canada AM host, Beverly Thompson, we discuss the the difference between semi-autonomous and autonomous weapons, the call to ban killer robots, why I am a signatory to the open letter, and why efficacy is not the only consideration in deciding whether to ban a dangerous use of technology.
This editorial first appeared in the Ottawa Citizen on April 26, 2016. The published version can be read here.
Given the perceived military success of unmanned drones and other semi-autonomous weapons, many proponents of robotic warfare are pushing for the next phase of development: fully autonomous weapons. Once developed and deployed, these weapons — killer robots, as they have become known — would be able to select their own targets and fire on them, without human intervention.
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