Now that Drone attacks are drawing flak, there is a move to induct Fully Autonomous Robotic Weapons, which do not need any Human input are on the anvil.
“The Campaign to Stop Killer Robots is a coalition of weapons monitors and human rights groups leading an effort, formally since April, to establish an international ban on fully autonomous lethal weapons. Dubbed (by opponents) “killer robots,” it’s a technology that can kill targets (humans) without any human input. Whereas drones today have someone somewhere remotely determining where and when to fire, a fully autonomous air, land, or sea weapon could be making the decisions on its own…
It sounds like the stuff of sci-fi, but the technology is well within reach given existing weaponry. The U.S. Navy’s X-47B, a Northrop Grumman-developed drone, has taken off and landed on an aircraft carrier—one of the hardest maneuvers in aviation—entirely on its own, and it would only be a short step to add missiles to its weapons bay. In South Korea, a Samsung subsidiary designed—several years ago already—a stationary robot sentry that sits along the demilitarized zone and can identify and fire at a target on its own. It’s linked up with a human operator for now.
Human Rights Watch has called in for a Review of this development.
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All governments should support international talks to address the threat posed by fully autonomous robotic weapons, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch and the Harvard Law School International Human Rights Clinic on October 21, 2013, issued a question-and-answer document about the legal problems posed by these weapons.
Representatives from the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, including Human Rights Watch, will present their concerns about fully autonomous weapons at a United Nations event in New York on October 21.
“Urgent international action is needed or killer robots may evolve from a science fiction nightmare to a deadly reality,” said Steve Goose, arms director at Human Rights Watch. “The US and every other country should support holding international talks aimed at ensuring that humans will retain control over decisions to target and use force against other humans.”
Fully autonomous weapons – also called “lethal autonomous robotics” or “killer robots” – have not yet been developed but technology is moving toward increasing autonomy. Such weapons would select and engage targets without further intervention by a human.
In recent months, fully autonomous weapons have gone from an obscure issue to one that is commanding the attention of many governments, international institutions, and groups around the world.”
Source:
http://world.time.com/2013/10/25/the-campaign-to-kill-killer-robots-gains-steam/
http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/10/21/un-hold-international-talks-killer-robots
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