Tesla’s Elon Musk and Google’s Mustafa Suleyman are leading a group of 116 specialists from across 26 countries who are calling for the ban on autonomous weapons. The founders wrote: “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. The UK government opposed such a ban on lethal autonomous weapons in 2015, with foreign office stating that “international humanitarian law already provides sufficient regulation for this area”. Photograph: Photo credit: Melinda Sue Gordon/Allstar/PARAMOUNT PICTURESWhile the suggestion of killer robots conjures images from science fiction such as the Terminator’s T-800 or Robocop’s ED-209, lethal autonomous weapons are already in use. These projects range from autonomous versions of the Russian Uran-9 unmanned combat ground vehicle, to conventional tanks retrofitted with autonomous systems.

Source: The Guardian August 20, 2017 13:52 UTC