British Ministry of Defense on Killer Robots: ‘Incremental and Involuntary Journey Towards a Terminator-Like Reality’
April 18th, 2011Via: Guardian:
The growing use of unmanned aircraft in combat situations raises huge moral and legal issues, and threatens to make war more likely as armed robots take over from human beings, according to an internal study by the Ministry of Defence.
The report warns of the dangers of an “incremental and involuntary journey towards a Terminator-like reality”, referring to James Cameron’s 1984 movie, in which humans are hunted by robotic killing machines. It says the pace of technological development is accelerating at such a rate that Britain must quickly establish a policy on what will constitute “acceptable machine behaviour”.
“It is essential that before unmanned systems become ubiquitous (if it is not already too late) … we ensure that, by removing some of the horror, or at least keeping it at a distance, we do not risk losing our controlling humanity and make war more likely,” warns the report, titled The UK Approach to Unmanned Aircraft Systems. MoD officials have never before grappled so frankly with the ethics of the use of drones. The report was ordered by Britain’s defence chiefs, and coincides with continuing controversy about drones’ use in Afghanistan, and growing Pakistani anger at CIA drone attacks against suspected insurgents on the Afghan borders.
It states that “the recent extensive use of unmanned aircraft over Pakistan and Yemen may already herald a new era”. Referring to descriptions of “killer drones” in Afghanistan, it notes that “feelings are likely to run high as armed systems acquire more autonomy”.
Related: X-47B Killer Drone: Navy Wants Autonomous, Carrier Take Offs and Landings
I used to jokingly say, “I welcome the robot wars because they’ll be morally unambiguous.” Killing a human would be tough, but I’d have no hesitation shooting a terminator. Then I realized that if the robots ever do pull a Judgment Day on us, they won’t be stupid enough to use mech tanks and robot soldiers. They’ll do it with swarms of nanobots that we’ll just inhale without noticing and then be killed from the inside out. That revelation was a real bummer.
Also, I think the cheetah-bot concerns me more than the X-47B. http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/02/darpas-cheetah-bot-designed-to-chase-human-prey/
A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction,
allow a human being to come to harm.
A robot must obey orders
given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with
the First Law.
A robot must protect its own existence as long as
such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
Asimov.
I’d like to add that since the operators are stateside, it increases the chance of attack to ‘the homeland’ in a desperate attempt to stop the machines.
I’m ‘long’ magnets, spark gaps, coils and high voltage capacitors. Oh, and nitric acid balloons.