The United States military is going all-in on the development of killer robots. After rejecting the idea of supporting a United Nations ban on the technology, the production of combat robotics will only expand from here. However, that expansion may cause “Slaughterbots” to find their way into gangs and Cartels.
Robotics expert warns military Slaughterbots will be essential to gangs
Reported by TheNextWeb, MIT artificial intelligence/weapons researcher Max Tegmark explained that military robots will soon be in civilians’ hands. Just like traditional weapons, robotic weapons will begin to trickle down from militaries to gangs.
Tegmark explained that the current generation of military “Slaughterbots” are surprisingly inexpensive. The expert explained that the “weapons are incredibly cheap”, so much so that they've been compared to the price of a single AK-47.
“They’ll be small, cheap and light like smartphones, and incredibly versatile and powerful,” Tegmark warned. “It’s clearly not in the national security interest of these countries to legalize super-powerful weapons of mass destruction.”
The expert explained that countries are acting lax on regulation for the technology. However, he explained that “it’s clearly not in the national security interest of these countries to legalize super-powerful weapons of mass destruction.”
Read More: Bad News: The Robot Dogs Have Guns Now.
An unregulated future
In response to governments’ refusal to regulate the technology, the Future of Life Institute has published a short film detailing the technology’s issues. Titled “Slaughterbots — if human: kill()”, the five-minute video envisions a future where robotic weapons are commonplace.
The video shows the danger of automated weaponry on the streets. In the film, it’s shown that the robots’ facial recognition software could be used to wipe out individuals or large groups at once. FLI warns that the dehumanisation of algorithm-based robotics will lead to unethical automatized killing.
The FLI isn't the only group acting against the introduction of robotic weaponry into militaries. For example, the activist group Stop Killer Robots has already made waves speaking out against the dehumanisation of warfare.
SKR says: “Technology should be used to empower all people, not to reduce us – to stereotypes, labels, objects, or just a pattern of 1’s and 0’s”. Are they right?