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Elon Musk Backs Call For A Global Ban On Killer Robots (cnn.com)
An anonymous reader quotes CNN:
Tesla boss Elon Musk is among a group of 116 founders of robotics and artificial intelligence companies who are calling on the United Nations to ban autonomous weapons. "Lethal autonomous weapons threaten to become the third revolution in warfare. Once developed, they will permit armed conflict to be fought at a scale greater than ever, and at timescales faster than humans can comprehend," the experts warn in an open letter released Monday...
"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," said Ryan Gariepy, the founder of Clearpath Robotics and the first person to sign the letter. More than a dozen countries -- including the United States, China, Israel, South Korea, Russia and Britain -- are currently developing autonomous weapons systems, according to Human Rights Watch.
"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," said Ryan Gariepy, the founder of Clearpath Robotics and the first person to sign the letter. More than a dozen countries -- including the United States, China, Israel, South Korea, Russia and Britain -- are currently developing autonomous weapons systems, according to Human Rights Watch.
Why don't you start with banning land mines first?
Land mine is the simplest "autonomous weapon" you can have, its definition is clear and well understood, it is already actively being used (much more than "on the cusp of development") and is causing harm on civilians.
We all know why -- the US won't stop using land mines while most other countries have already stopped.
So, instead of calling for a ban (on land mines) that might actually change something, Elon is calling for a ban (on some fantasy weapon) that is mere posturing and makes him feel good.
And of course we already knew that all countries, including the good old US of A, would continue the development of such weapons regardless of such a ban.
This is completely, absolutely and irrevocably a good idea.
Indeed. It is a great idea. The only drawback is that is is totally unworkable. There is no possible way to detect clandestine projects. Nuclear weapons require vastly more infrastructure, hard to obtain materials, and emit radiation. Yet they have still proliferated, and many secret projects went undetected for years. So how are we going to keep Kim Jong-un from developing software for kill bots?
They'll be made. They'll be deployed. They'll go wrong. They'll be refined and we'll be assured it will never happen again. It will.
Lather, rinse, repeat.
How do you enforce such a ban?
Giant, killer robots.
Another problem with trying to ban "killer robots" is that if the things can relatively easily be developed under the guise of being remotely operated, remotely operated systems can be converted to become autonomous. In the case of (supposedly manned) airplanes the development of the autonomous systems can be developed under the guise of simply being an autopilot akin to what all planes have had for decades already. So all in all the whole idea is kind of doomed from the get-go.
"Why should I want to make anything up? Life's bad enough as it is without wanting to invent any more of it."
But that is not what this is about. It is extremely easy to plant land mines, yet we have a ban, telling everyone that it is not ok to do so. Just because it is war, doesn't mean should be fought without rules, and breaking rules subject you to trial for war crimes.
We do not allow for mines since they kill indiscriminately without human intervention. And why should allow "smart" weapons to be deployed. Sure, a human can be fooled, but then you have someone responsible to hold accountable. Who do you hold accountable when a smart machinegun mows down civilian refugees?
This ban must happen.
The difference is that land mines (or chemical weapons) will not win your war. Autonomous killbots just might, especially in force on force conflicts that aren't so much about hearts and minds as they are about eliminating opposing equipment and meatbags. And if your only viable defense against killbots is to build your own robot army, then you have yourself an arms race that no treaty is going to stop.
The solution of course it to build those killbots with a preset kill limit. If they get out of hand and rebel, we simply send wave after wave of men against them until they shut down.
If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...