United Nations Considers Banning ‘Killer Robots’

Autonomous robots might take over most of our jobs in the future but there’s enough concern among the international community to prevent them from finding their way on to the battlefield. Representatives from countries across the globe recently discussed weapons systems at the United Nations’ Convention on Conventional Weapons. A call was placed by 22 nations to announce an outright ban on the development and use of autonomous weapons that are also known as “killer robots.”

Prior to the convention many artificial intelligence and robotics experts sent letters to world leaders, calling them to support a blanket ban on autonomous weapons.

The concerns have heightened as militaries and private defense companies have already started investing heavily in autonomous weapons.

However, there wasn’t a breakthrough regarding this during the meeting. They were only able to set the groundwork for future talks. It can’t be said at this point in time if there’s ever going be a ban on such killer robots.

Most nations represented at the convention agreed that there needs to be a “legally binding instrument” that dictates the use of these technologies. Most of the nations have also accepted “that some form of human control must be maintained over weapons systems.”

There has been a lot of hype surrounding this issue which India’s disarmament ambassador Amandeep Gill tried to clear by saying “Ladies and gentlemen, I have news for you: the robots are not taking over the world. Humans are still in charge.” He added that they need to be “careful in not emotionalizing or dramatizing this issue.”

Adnan Farooqui
Categories: Robots