European Parliament Passes Resolution Calling For An International Ban On Killer Robots (bbc.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from the BBC: The European Parliament has passed a resolution calling for an international ban on so-called killer robots. It aims to pre-empt the development and use of autonomous weapon systems that can kill without human intervention. Last month, talks at the UN failed to reach consensus on the issue, with some countries saying the benefits of autonomous weapons should be explored. And some MEPs were concerned legislation could limit scientific progress of artificial intelligence. While others said it could become a security issue if some countries allowed such weapons while others did not. The resolution comes ahead of negotiations scheduled at the United Nations in November, where it is hoped an agreement on an international ban can be reached. Israel, Russia, South Korea and the U.S. opposed the new measures, saying that they wanted to explore potential "advantages" from autonomous weapons systems.

Comments

Europe

[Vinegar Joe]

Spends a lot of time trying to ban, regulate and/or tax things in other countries.

Re:Europe

[sabri]

Europe spends a lot of time trying to ban, regulate and/or tax things in other countries.

This. It's about time the EUSSR reconsiders what it tries to do. The EU as an institution is an undemocratic entity. Its "constitution" was illegally adopted, despite its citizens overwhelmingly voting against it.

I had to seek refuge on another continent.

Re:Europe

[Anonymous Coward]

He makes only makes two claims and they're both true

He claims its constitution was illegally adopted. This is true. The French and Dutch rejected the European constitution in referendums in 2005. The EU renamed the "Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe" to the "Treaty of Lisbon" and changed the wording a bit to bypass the need for a referendum in France and the Netherlands, thus robbing those people of their legal right to a referendum.

He claims the EU is an undemocratic entity. This is true. The most powerful branch of the EU is the European Commission which has the power to set laws. Members of the European Commission are not elected by the public. The second most powerful branch of the EU is the European Court of Justice, where the judges are also unelected. Of the seven institutions of the EU only members of the European Parliament are elected, but this is largely for show as the parliament has no power to create laws, only block laws passed down by the Commission. The forcing through of the European Constitution shows how undemocratic the EU is.

How, then, is what he said not true?

So...

[Locke2005]

Just rename the robots "CuddleBots", and proceed with development full steam ahead? I'm not clear on how one would enforce a rule like this.

Say whaaat?

[msauve]

"with some countries saying the benefits of autonomous weapons should be explored."

What are these "benefits", and who are these countries?

If it's just robots fighting robots so humans don't die, just do it in virtual cyberspace instead of building and destroying expensive hardware. Of course, either requires that everyone play by a common set of rules, and there are none in war.