Earlyface

The first steps towards the outlawing of
"killer robots" have been taken today by
international community. Governments
attending a weapons meeting in Geneva
have agreed to begin international
discussions in May 2014 on utonomous
robot weapons.
The
Phalanx
Close-In
The Phalanx Close-In Weapon System
(ALAMY)
"The decision to begin international
discussions next year is a major leap
forward for efforts to ban killer robots pre-
emptively. "Governments have recognized
that fully autonomous weapons raise
serious legal and ethical concerns, and that
urgent action is needed," said Steve Goose,
arms director at Human Rights Watch, a co-
founder of the Campaign to Stop Killer
Robots.
Governments that are part of the Convention
on Conventional Weapons (CCW) agreed to
convene in Geneva on May 13-16 to discuss
the issues related to "lethal autonomous
weapons systems," also known as fully
autonomous weapons or killer robots.
These weapons have not yet been
developed, but technology is moving rapidly
toward increasing autonomy.
The Convention on Conventional Weapons,
adopted in 1980, has been ratified by 117
countries, including those known to be
advanced in autonomous weaponry: the
United States, China, Israel, Russia, South
Korea, and the United Kingdom.
Adopted in 1980, this framework
convention contains five protocols, including
Protocol I prohibiting fragments which are
not detectable by X-rays in the human body,
Protocol III, prohibiting the use of air-
dropped incendiary weapons in populated
areas, and Protocol IV, which pre-emptively
banned blinding lasers. "A future Protocol VI
prohibiting fully autonomous weapons
would be the most important achievement
in the life of the Convention on Conventional
Weapons," Goose added.
Another founder of the Stop the Killer
Robots coalition and professor of artificial
intelligence and robotics at Sheffield
University, Noel Sharkey, said:
"People initially accused us of being in some
kind of fantasy world. But now they have
realised that significant developments are
already under way. "At the moment we
already have drones, which are supervised
by humans - I have a lot of issues with
these, but they can be used in compliance
with international law. "What we are
talking about however is fully-automated
machines that can select targets and kill
them without any human intervention.
And that is something we should all be very
worried about.