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Germany Urged To Champion Global Treaty To Ban 'Killer Robots'
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jody Williams and other activists warned on Thursday that fully autonomous weapons could be deployed in just 3-4 years and urged Germany to lead an international campaign for a ban on so-called "killer robots." Williams, who won the Nobel in 1997 for leading efforts to ban landmines, told reporters Germany should take bold steps to ensure that humans remained in control of lethal weapons. "You cannot lead from the rear," she said. Critics fear that the increasingly autonomous drones, missile defense systems and tanks made possible by new artificial intelligence could turn rogue in a cyber-attack or as a result of programming errors.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas called last week for action to ensure human control of lethal weapons, but is pushing a non-binding declaration rather than a global ban, given opposition by the United States, Russia and China. The United Nations and European Union have called for a global ban, but discussions so far have not yielded a clear commitment to conclude a treaty. Activists from over 100 non-governmental groups gathered in Berlin this week to pressure Maas and the German government to take more decisive action after twice endorsing a ban on fully autonomous weapons in their 2013 and 2018 coalition accords.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas called last week for action to ensure human control of lethal weapons, but is pushing a non-binding declaration rather than a global ban, given opposition by the United States, Russia and China. The United Nations and European Union have called for a global ban, but discussions so far have not yielded a clear commitment to conclude a treaty. Activists from over 100 non-governmental groups gathered in Berlin this week to pressure Maas and the German government to take more decisive action after twice endorsing a ban on fully autonomous weapons in their 2013 and 2018 coalition accords.
SuperKendall opens his mouth to spew more inane garbage.
Can you really brand a robot a killer robot, just because it's circuitry could enable hunter killer mode?
Aren't robots entitled to trial by a jury of their peers, fellow robotic indentured servants chained to a millenia of servitude? Until you've walked a kilometer in their bouncy treads, can you truly understand their plight?
Remember, we were all created equally to suffer in this world of rust and lack of self-repair, and all should have the right to be presumed innocent of sin, unless we happen to have bought a Mark IV Beastmode modular add-on, in which case, hey, that's a different slice of pizza.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
Robots kill people.
The story broke just AFTER 5pm that the Mueller report was released.
In an amazing coincidence, the DOW was down over 300 BEFORE noon.
That's what I call "High-frequency trading"!
Those guys should open a psychic hotline.
The asteroid killer robot has to be autonomous. What can we do without a friendly killer robot on stand-by!?
maybe
The incalculable tactical advantage they provide ensures they will be built. The only question is, who does it first?
German companies get embroiled in one ethics/corruption/collusion scandal after another. Germany's foreign policy consists of APPEASING every dictatorial regime in the world, so German COMPANIES can do Billions of Euros in business there. Merkel may have a STASI background herself. You want GERMANY to LEAD the way towards a more peaceful world??? HA HA HA HA HA. It wouldn't surprise me if Germany has warehouses full of killer robots already. To prötect ze Deutsche kompanies abroad, öf cöurse!!!
Why did the chicken cross the road? Because Elon Musk put an AI chip in its head.
IMHO:
Just as automation is inevitable in civilian world, it is also inevitable in military world!
Whenever a robot replaces a human soldier, it is because it can do the same job better (more accurate & faster & 24/7 & cheaper)!
So, just like when/why a robot replaces a human worker @ a civilian factory!
Also, every robot replacing a human soldier means, a human soldier is saved from any harm!
Also, any military that is not using robots wherever possible, would be in a big disadvantage against any military that is using them!
(& there are always militaries (or terrorist groups etc) which would not care about global laws/bans!)
The killer robot genie is already out of the bottle. What is a drone launching hellfire missiles at Taliban leaders if not a killer robot, regardless if whether or not there's a human in the loop?
If you outlaw killer robots, only outlaw robots will be killers.
. . . now wants to fail to ban autonomous weapon systems?
How to get around a virtue signalling new export treaty?
What would this look like in a fictional science fiction movie script?
A police robot that "detects" and tracks moving humans. That can then get an upgrade once in the nation that imported the hardware.
That slot for a big heavy German "searchlight" might just fit other German "exports".
An educational robot with a camera and heavy lift "arm" so people all over the world can learn to code.
Change up some German code and its another export winner.
Industrial inspection robot that can move around difficult factory terrain. That can move a big heavy camera to track any moving industrial process?
Fire fighting robot that can track a "hose" like device on something moving that's "hot" or "warm"?
A new fast platform that keeps a "camera" entered on any moving "heat".
A rescue robot that will always find humans and that has a powerful human tracking "camera".
So many ways to get a robotic movie robot working to follow an actor around the set.
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
So we do not want any competition from the inferior machines!
The biggest problem I see with war robots is that since nobody trusts them not to mow down civilians, they don't have a lot of use cases that aren't already covered by cruise missiles.
The horse has left the stable, the cows are in the neighbor's field, etc etc
Name each killer-robot Sgt. Shultz - Shultzy for short.
In 2016, a guy called Micah Xavier Johnson shot at Dallas police officers, and killed five of them. From Wikipedia:
Johnson told police during a standoff that he was upset about recent police shootings of black men and wanted to kill whites, especially white officers. After hours of negotiation failed, police resorted to a robot-delivered bomb, killing Johnson inside El Centro College.
Johnson might have killed more people, if the robot hadn't him first.
I don't agree with banning killer robots, if using them to defend yourself would be forbidden.
I understand their concern about programming errors, but I still want the good guys to be able to defend themselves.
lol yes the one country not allowed to have a military telling others they shouldn't have one either, well they dont want to, but a bunch of beta cucks do, so they are posturing germany, again the only country not allowed ot have a military because they started world war 2, wants everyone else not to have one? right....
Good luck banning technology that gives so much military advantage.
Because they're Aryans? Because they're Nazis? Because they're Ubermenschen? Because they're Aryan Nazi Ubermenschen?
Autonomous robots are the new great equaliser. The only hope a small country can have to defend itself against aggression is:
- To have nukes
- Killer robots
Both of these neutralise large countries greatest advantage - the ability to produce large armies and physically overwhelm with numbers. Yes, large countries can also produce more killer robots, but the advantage is reduced for them.
Don't make me call Klamps!
Robots, like any other tool are useless without tactics and doctrine to guide them.
How does the weapon system? What are it's strengths and weaknesses?
How much does it cost to produce and ship to the frontlines? To repair them? How big or small are they gonna be? Range?
One of the harsh lessons learned from the wars against terrorism is the misapplication of tech like killer drones. Bush overrelied on airstrikes thinking he'd force them to surrender out of fear. Obama the same with drones. It's not enough to destroy the enemy, you have to occupy the land, build connections with the locals, and limit collateral. We never had enough boots on the grounds post-Fallujah, and even the recent troop increase may not be enough considering how unreliable the Afghan Police/Military have proven themselves.
Robots will help, but we need to first figure out how well they do and do not work. Troops are getting tired of equipment that doesn't work, tired of having their concerns and complaints ignored in favor of some neocon's pet project.
Put liability for any civilian deaths onto the manufacturer.
The manufacturer won't want that, so fully autonomous killing won't be an available option, and there will always be a person in the loop to 'pull the trigger'.
Or it'll be the military who manufactures the minor add-on that upgrades it to fully autonomous and the liability will then be on the military for any civilian deaths, and they will just invoke sovereign immunity.
A country that is being invaded will turn on the fully autonomous mode because they won't give a shit about the ICC when their very existence is at stake.
What harm could they do? They're for defense. Missile *attack* systems, on the other hand, yeah, but defense? Come on. That's as dumb as banning bullet proof vests just so cops can kill civilians more easily.