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Killer Drone 'Hunted Down A Human Target' Without Being Told To:
After a United Nations commission to block killer robots was shut down in 2018, a new report from the international body now says the Terminator-like drones are now here.
[...] The March 2020 attack was in Libya and perpetrated by a Kargu-2 quadcopter drone produced by Turkish military tech company STM "during a conflict between Libyan government forces and a breakaway military faction led by Khalifa Haftar, commander of the Libyan National Army," the Star reports, adding: "The Kargu-2 is fitted with an explosive charge and the drone can be directed at a target in a kamikaze attack, detonating on impact."
[...] "The lethal autonomous weapons systems were programmed to attack targets without requiring data connectivity between the operator and the munition: in effect, a true 'fire, forget and find' capability" – suggesting the drones attacked on their own.
[...] In August of last year, Human Rights Watch warned of the need for legislation against "killer robots" while NYC mayoral candidate Andrew Yang has called for a global ban on them – something the US and Russia are against.
See also: New Scientist magazine and the Star.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday June 09 2021, @04:51AM (1 child)
Good question. If your parameters are too broad, well, you'll fail to get the guy you want. The drone/weapon will have been wasted. Of course, that won't stop the military claiming that they actually killed a terrorist, even if that terrorist happens to be a little 6 year old girl playing with dolls.
I suppose that I've given the benefit of the doubt to the programmers, assuming that they at least tried to use meaningful input.
(Score: 2) by coolgopher on Wednesday June 09 2021, @07:02AM
If it's a single-shot device, sure, you wasted it. But what if it has whole magazine of "terrorist"-dispatching munition? At that point someone might very well be tempted to go lose with the parameters in an effort to ensure that it /at least/ gets the intended target. A walking sentry gun seems all too doable already...