Off-Beat-News
UN to discuss killer robots─── 10:55 Sun, 08 Apr 2018
Next week in Geneva, 123 member nations of the UN will discuss the challenges posed by lethal autonomous weapons, or killer robots, with 22 of these nations calling for an outright ban on such weapons.
BBC reports the meeting comes at a time when leading AI experts have boycotted a South Korean university over a partnership with weapons manufacturer Hanwha Systems.
More than 50 AI researchers from 30 countries signed a letter expressing concern about its plans to develop artificial intelligence for weapons.
In response, the university said it would not be developing "autonomous lethal weapons” but that its project was centred on developing algorithms for "efficient logistical systems, unmanned navigation and aviation training systems".
Until the boycott is lifted, academics will refuse to collaborate with any part of Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology.
Detractors fear if developed, autonomous weapons will be the third revolution in warfare. They will permit war to be fought faster, at a scale greater than ever before and they will have the potential to be weapons of terror.
South Korea already has an army of robots patrolling the border with North Korea. The Samsung SGR-A1 carries a machine gun that can be switched to autonomous mode but is, at present, operated by humans via camera links.
BBC
