

Stopping killer robots and other future threats - rl3
http://thebulletin.org/stopping-killer-robots-and-other-future-threats8012

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rl3
I used to agree with the article's viewpoint wholeheartedly. It involved this
romantic notion that the mutual risk shared by both parties in warfare served
to act as a deterrent towards future conflict, thereby ensuring peace. Add
robots and that mechanism is destroyed.

Moreover, is something really worth fighting for if nations wouldn't otherwise
have the will to commit human troops?

Well, yes. Modern political reality is such that large military occupations
for humanitarian purposes are incredibly unpopular, and suggesting the mere
prospect of such operations is tantamount to political suicide.

Bad actors know this dynamic, and they exploit it with knowledge that western
countries will almost certainly not intervene, allowing them to operate with
impunity. Recent history points to genocide in Rwanda and Darfur as being
prime examples.

Robotic infantry, built and deployed to any reasonable standard, tend to solve
this problem.

The article cites concerns over increased civilian casualties if we were to
deploy autonomous weapons platforms. On the contrary, like self-driving cars,
it's likely that machine control would result in safer outcomes. In the case
of robotic infantry, you're talking sensors and weapons that far exceed human
capability in their capacity to be surgical. Combined with the fact that self-
preservation could easily take lower precedence to preserving civilian life,
and it seems clear that the net result would be a decrease in civilian
casualties.

To be fair, the article's spirit likely was intended primarily in the context
of aerial drones, and I admit turning drones into autonomous killing machines
is almost certainly a bad idea, unless drones significantly ramp up their
sensor capabilities and start using bullets instead of bombs.

If autonomous robots with the authority to kill are what it takes to make
genocide a thing of the past and bring social change to countries where women
are still considered property, and where not subscribing to the mandated faith
results in death, then so be it.

Banning domestic use of such robots in developed countries would be a
fantastic idea, however. Even any less-than-lethal forms.

