An International Ban on Killer Robots is needed now

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Noel Sharkey, Professor of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics at the University of Sheffield, has said an international ban must be put in place now, before one country starts using them in conflict, opening the door to others to follow suit.

Speaking at the Euroscience Open Forum in Copenhagen, Professor Sharkey noted that so far no nation has openly used entirely autonomous aircraft, submarines, surface vessels or tanks that are capable of tracking, selecting, targeting and deploying weapons entirely by themselves and based on algorithms. However,  such systems are already being developed by a number of countries, including the US, China, Israel, Taiwan and Russia. However,  because they have not yet been used, an opportunity is there to ban them before nations race to develop and start using them.

To read more: click here

Professor Sharkey was also interviewed about the Campaign to Ban Killer Robots on RTE: click here

Nobel Peace Laureates Call for Preemptive Ban on Autonomous Weapons

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Statement by Nobel Peace Laureates

In April 2013 in London, a group of nongovernmental organizations – most associated with the successful efforts to ban landmines and cluster munitions – publicly launched the “Campaign to Stop Killer Robots.” Their efforts have helped bring the issue of fully autonomous weapons to a broader audience and spur governments to begin discussions on these weapons this May in Geneva.

We, the undersigned Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, applaud this new global effort and whole-heartedly embrace its goal of a preemptive ban on fully autonomous weapons that would be able to select and attack targets on their own. It is unconscionable that human beings are expanding research and development of lethal machines that would be able to kill people without human intervention.

Not all that long ago such weapons were considered the subject of science fiction, Hollywood and video games. But some machines are already taking the place of soldiers on the battlefield. Some experts in the field predict that fully autonomous weapons could be developed within 20 to 30 years; others contend it could even be sooner. With the rapid development of drones and the expansion of their use in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq – and beyond, billions of dollars are already being spent to research new systems for the air, land, and sea that one day would make drones seem as quaint as the Model T Ford does today. Continue reading “Nobel Peace Laureates Call for Preemptive Ban on Autonomous Weapons” →

Launch of the Irish campaign to Stop Killer Robots

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At the Irish Launch of the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots: (From left to right): Fiona Crowley (Amnesty Ireland), Tony D'Costa (Pax Christi), Iain Atack (ISE), Professor Noel Sharkey, Joe Murray, Lisa Patten (Afri). Photo: Dave Donnellan
At the Irish Launch of the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots: (From left to right): Fiona Crowley (Amnesty Ireland), Tony D’Costa (Pax Christi), Iain Atack (ISE), Professor Noel Sharkey, Joe Murray, Lisa Patten (Afri). Photo: Dave Donnellan

On 10 April, the Irish launch of the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots took place at Trinity College Dublin with a keynote address by Professor Noel Sharkey, chair of the International Committee for Robot Arms Control, a founder of the global Campaign to Stop Killer Robots. Afri—a peace and human rights organisation that opposes war and militarization—held the launch in association with the International Peace Studies Programme of the Irish School of Ecumenics. Other organisations participating in the Irish Campaign to Stop Killer Robots include Amnesty International Ireland and Pax Christi Ireland.

Born in Belfast, Sharkey is a well-known robotics and artificial intelligence expert at the University of Sheffield in the UK. At the event, he called on the Irish government to show leadership on the crucial issue of ensuring human control over targeting and attack decisions by banning fully autonomous weapons.

In a press release, Afri described the launch as timely given the context of moves by some countries towards the use of lethal autonomous robotic weapons. It expressed strong support for call for a comprehensive ban and said it was “delighted” to have Professor Sharkey at the launch of campaign in Ireland.

Afri co-ordinator Joe Murray called for an urgent ban of autonomous weapons, noting “Should we allow the monumentally insane policy of developing fully autonomous weapons to be pursued then even the element of human intervention will be sidelined and we will have war and violence of epic proportions. It is time to wake up and shout stop.” Continue reading “Launch of the Irish campaign to Stop Killer Robots” →

Irish Launch of Stop Killer Robots Campaign

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Irish Launch of the

 

Irish School of Ecumenics – Loyola Institute building (facing rubgy pitch)

Trinity College Dublin

April 10th 2014, 7pm

Speaker:

Noel Sharkey

Emeritus Professor of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics and Professor of Public Engagement in the University of Sheffield and Chairman of the International Committee for Robot Arms Control

All welcome

About the Stop Killer Robots Campaign:

Over the past decade, the expanded use of unmanned armed vehicles has dramatically changed warfare, bringing new humanitarian and legal challenges. Now rapid advances in technology are resulting in efforts to develop fully autonomous weapons. These robotic weapons would be able to choose and fire on targets on their own, without any human intervention, raising numerous ethical, legal, moral, policy, technical, and other concerns with fully autonomous weapons. Giving machines the power to decide who lives and dies on the battlefield is an unacceptable application of technology. The Campaign to Stop Killer Robots is an international coalition of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working to ban fully autonomous weapons.

Organised by Afri in association with the International Peace Studies Programme, Irish School of Ecumenics, Trinity College Dublin