Elon Musk among experts warning over ‘killer robots’
The SpaceX boss signed a letter along with other tech bosses warning of the dangers of AI in weapons development.
Elon Musk is among more than 100 experts who signed a letter to the United Nations warning them of the deadly potential of robotics.
It warns that the rise of autonomous and robotic weapons could lead to a “third revolution in warfare” – after gunpowder and nuclear weapons – and create conflict “at timescales faster than humans can comprehend”.
“These can be weapons of terror, weapons that despots and terrorists use against innocent populations, and weapons hacked to behave in undesirable ways,” the letter said
“We do not have long to act. Once this Pandora’s box is opened, it will be hard to close.”
The group is calling for the use of AI technology in developing weaponry to be banned under the UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW).
In the past, Musk has called AI a “fundamental risk to the existence of civilisation” and last month became involved in an online argument with Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg, who said he regards himself as “optimistic” on the subject.
However, Musk dismissed his tech colleague’s knowledge on the subject as “limited”.
Some experts have predicted that the current rate of growth in the AI and robotics sector could make autonomous weaponry a reality within years rather than decades, and one US military technology firm has already revealed a prototype drone that can carry and fire small arms.
