From Robbie Walker
Chris Baraniuk addresses the use of robots in armed conflict not only from a technical point of view, as he also considers the ethical, political and social consequences (15 November, p 38).
Unfortunately he doesn’t give greater consideration to what happens when combatants ignore international conventions. Here issues of terrorism or genocide become central.
We move from technical fail-safe systems and the requirement for a human to make an ethical decision before issuing that “kill order”, to autonomous suicide bombers or indiscriminate attacks on civilians. A robot suicide bomber cannot become a holy martyr, but I doubt that will stop someone trying to build one.
London, UK
