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Over 1,000 high-profile artificial intelligence experts and leading researchers have signed an open letter warning of a "military artificial intelligence arms race" and calling for a ban on "offensive autonomous weapons".
The letter, presented at the International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Buenos Aires, Argentina, was signed by Tesla's Elon Musk, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, Google DeepMind chief executive Demis Hassabis and professor Stephen Hawking along with 1,000 AI and robotics researchers.
The letter states: "AI technology has reached a point where the deployment of [autonomous weapons] is – practically if not legally – feasible within years, not decades, and the stakes are high: autonomous weapons have been described as the third revolution in warfare, after gunpowder and nuclear arms."
So, spell it out for me, Einstein, are we looking at a Terminator future or a Matrix future?
While the latest open letter is concerned specifically with allowing lethal machines to kill without human intervention, several big names in the tech world have offered words of caution of the subject of machine intelligence in recent times. Earlier this year Microsoft's Bill Gates said he was "concerned about super intelligence," while last May physicist Stephen Hawking voiced questions over whether artificial intelligence could be controlled in the long-term. Several weeks ago a video surfaced of a drone that appeared to have been equipped to carry and fire a handgun.
takyon: Counterpoint - Musk, Hawking, Woz: Ban KILLER ROBOTS before WE ALL DIE
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 28 2015, @02:43PM
It is already too late for this debate. Autonomous weapons of various degrees have been in production and use for decades.
Consider first the Soviet anti-tank dogs [wikipedia.org], or perhaps even the United States' attempt to make pigeon-guided ship-seeking missiles [wikipedia.org]. The former demonstrated the dangers of autonomous weapons, as the dogs went for the familiar-smelling diesel-fueled Soviet tanks rather than the enemy's gasoline ones.
Even if the discussion is limited to computer-guided weapons.A good example is the British Spearfish torpedo [wikipedia.org], which while initially wire-guided, is autonomous in final approach, and can autonomously acquire new targets should it miss. This torpedo was put into production in 1992, twenty three years ago. Technology has, presumably, continued to advance. The U.S. Mk.48 Mod 7 is not as widely discussed, but also appears to have autonomous features, and the Chinese claim their Yu-6 is comparable to the Mk.48.
Autonomous weapons are already here. At this point it is better to ensure there is an understanding on how and when they are used than to attempt stuffing the genie back in the bottle.
(See also the Eavesdropper [eavesdropperinstitute.com] for my initial write-up of the question.)