Arguments Against Militarized Autonomous Robots

1415 Words3 Pages

Nicholas Umana
05/2/18

Militarized Autonomous Robotics and Weapon Systems

As the world that we live in continues to develop, the tools that enable our survival are becoming more and more cultivated. The technology of today?s society is currently progressing at an astounding rate. Scientists and philosophers are constantly warning our world against the concerns of an overdeveloped world of technology. The current technology that embodies our society and which will provide our future with the most potential for benefit, and also for threat, is the concept of militarized autonomous robotics and drones. The overwhelming importance behind militarized autonomous robotics is that this concept will change the way that conflict is resolved at the …show more content…

Independent weapons systems will have the ability to individually make the decision of life over death. They will have the ability to employ an escalation of force wherever they deem necessary. While researching arguments against using autonomous weapons, I found four main arguments. The first argument against autonomous robots is the idea of an inevitable arms race and revolution. Countries will inevitably race to develop stronger and more powerful artificial intelligence. This has the potential to create different cold wars between countries in the future. Autonomous robots will become the ?new nuclear race.? The second argument against autonomous robots is, the power to life over death. Robots will not be fully capable of having 100 percent distinction between allies, civilians, and opposing forces. Giving a robot the power over a trigger eliminates the moral accountability behind killing. Only humans should be able to be held accountable for a death; however, this moral accountability would be terminated with the production of autonomous robots. Robots lack the ability to feel emotion. Even with artificial intelligence, they may not necessarily be able to fully feel human emotion. Due to the fact that they cannot feel human emotion, they cannot understand the implications of their actions on a battlefield. The last argument against the employment of …show more content…

The short-term effects of autonomous weapon systems will make any nation in control of these systems very powerful. From an international standpoint, a country which possesses autonomous weapon system capabilities would more than likely become the hegemonic power of the world. However, the long-term applications of using autonomous weapons systems will be very different. Eventually, multiple nations will control autonomous robotics and will threaten humanity with the collision of these superpowers. The very long-term affect of these weapons systems is an eventual humanity overthrow by autonomous robots. The resources that I used which promoted the utilization autonomous weapon systems generally did so without considering the long term affects. The resources identified with greed and power in their arguments and failed to realize the moral unjustifications of autonomous robotics. ?In July of 2015, an open letter was written at an international autonomous joint conference, warning that AI technology will be feasible in years, not decades - signed by Elon Musk, and Stephen Hawking's? (Brookings, Singer). It is imperative in the future that international laws are placed on autonomous weapons which restrict the usage of them in certain manners. These weapon systems will need to comply with the Laws of Armed Conflict (LAOC). If the regulations of

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