Human Rights Watch seeks treaty banning ‘killer robots’
Human Rights Watch has called on countries to negotiate on a new international treaty against the so-called “killer robots”, adding that as many as 30 nations have shown a desire to explicitly ban fully autonomous weapons.
In a report released on Monday, the New-York based non-governmental organization, reviewed the policies of 97 countries that have publicly discussed their views on fully autonomous weapons since the issue was first heard at the Human Rights Council in 2013.
The report titled, “Stopping Killer Robots: Country Positions on Banning Fully Autonomous Weapons and Retaining Human Control,” says that a growing number of countries are now recognizing the need to save humanity from these “killer robots” that are also categorized as lethal autonomous weapons systems.
Read more: Opposition bids to ban ‘killer robots’ foiled by Merkel’s coalition
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Technologies that revolutionized warfare
AI: ‘Third revolution in warfare’
Over 100 AI experts have written to the UN asking them to ban lethal autonomous weapons — those that use AI to act independently without any human input. No “killer robots” currently exist, but advances in artificial intelligence have made them a real possibility. The experts said these weapons could be “the third revolution in warfare,” after gunpowder and nuclear arms.
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Technologies that revolutionized warfare
Gunpowder
The “first revolution in warfare” was invented by the Chinese, who started using the black substance between the 10th and 12th centuries to propel projectiles in simple guns. It gradually spread to the Middle East and Europe in the following two centuries. Once perfected, firearms using gunpowder proved to be far more lethal than the traditional bow and arrow.
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Technologies that revolutionized warfare
Artillery
The invention of gunpowder also introduced artillery pieces to the battlefield. Armies started using basic cannons in the 16th century to fire heavy metal balls at opposing infantrymen and breach defensive walls around cities and fortresses. Far more destructive field guns were invented in the 19th century and went on to wreak havoc in the battlefields of World War I.
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Technologies that revolutionized warfare
Machine guns
Guns that fire multiple rounds in rapid succession were invented in the late 19th century and immediately transformed the battlefield. Machine guns, as they came to be known, allowed soldiers to mow down the enemy from a protected position. The weapon’s grisly effectiveness became all too clear in WWI as both sides used machine guns to wipe out soldiers charging across no man’s land.
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Technologies that revolutionized warfare
Warplanes
Military thinkers did not ignore the invention of the first airplane in 1903. Six years later, the US military bought the first unarmed military aircraft, the 1909 Wright Military Flyer. Inventors experimented with more advanced fighter and bomber aircraft in the following years. Both became standard features in many of the national air forces established by the end of WWI.
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Technologies that revolutionized warfare
Mechanization
Armies had traditionally used soldiers and horses to fight and transport military equipment. But around WWI, they started using more machines such as tanks and armored vehicles. Faster and more destructive armies were the result. Nazi Germany put this new form of “mechanized warfare” to destructive effect in WWII using an attack strategy known as “Blitzkrieg” (“lightning war”).
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Technologies that revolutionized warfare
Missiles
Although artillery was effective, it had a relatively limited range. The missile’s invention in WWII suddenly allowed an army to strike a target hundreds of kilometers away. The first missile — the German V-2 — was relatively primitive, but it laid the foundation for the development of guided cruise missiles and intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
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Technologies that revolutionized warfare
Jet engine
Jet aircraft first saw action alongside traditional propeller airplanes at the end of WWII. Jet engines dramatically increased an aircraft’s speed, allowing it to reach a target quicker and making it far harder for an adversary to shoot it down. After WWII, military reconnaissance planes were developed that could fly higher than 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) and faster than the speed of sound.
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Technologies that revolutionized warfare
Nuclear weapons
The “second revolution in warfare” announced its horrific arrival on August 6, 1945 when the US dropped the first nuclear bomb — “Little Boy” — on the city of Hiroshima in Japan, killing between 60,000 and 80,000 people instantly. In the Cold War that followed, the US and Soviet Union developed thousands of even more destructive warheads and raised the specter of a devastating nuclear war.
-
Technologies that revolutionized warfare
Digitization
Recent decades have witnessed the ever more prevalent use of computers to conduct war. The devices made military communication quicker and easier and radically improved the precision and efficiency of many weapons. Armed forces have recently focused on developing cyber warfare capabilities to defend national infrastructure and attack foreign adversaries in cyberspace.
Technologies that revolutionized warfare
AI: ‘Third revolution in warfare’
Over 100 AI experts have written to the UN asking them to ban lethal autonomous weapons — those that use AI to act independently without any human input. No “killer robots” currently exist, but advances in artificial intelligence have made them a real possibility. The experts said these weapons could be “the third revolution in warfare,” after gunpowder and nuclear arms.
Technologies that revolutionized warfare
Gunpowder
The “first revolution in warfare” was invented by the Chinese, who started using the black substance between the 10th and 12th centuries to propel projectiles in simple guns. It gradually spread to the Middle East and Europe in the following two centuries. Once perfected, firearms using gunpowder proved to be far more lethal than the traditional bow and arrow.
Technologies that revolutionized warfare
Artillery
The invention of gunpowder also introduced artillery pieces to the battlefield. Armies started using basic cannons in the 16th century to fire heavy metal balls at opposing infantrymen and breach defensive walls around cities and fortresses. Far more destructive field guns were invented in the 19th century and went on to wreak havoc in the battlefields of World War I.
Technologies that revolutionized warfare
Machine guns
Guns that fire multiple rounds in rapid succession were invented in the late 19th century and immediately transformed the battlefield. Machine guns, as they came to be known, allowed soldiers to mow down the enemy from a protected position. The weapon’s grisly effectiveness became all too clear in WWI as both sides used machine guns to wipe out soldiers charging across no man’s land.
Technologies that revolutionized warfare
Warplanes
Military thinkers did not ignore the invention of the first airplane in 1903. Six years later, the US military bought the first unarmed military aircraft, the 1909 Wright Military Flyer. Inventors experimented with more advanced fighter and bomber aircraft in the following years. Both became standard features in many of the national air forces established by the end of WWI.
Technologies that revolutionized warfare
Mechanization
Armies had traditionally used soldiers and horses to fight and transport military equipment. But around WWI, they started using more machines such as tanks and armored vehicles. Faster and more destructive armies were the result. Nazi Germany put this new form of “mechanized warfare” to destructive effect in WWII using an attack strategy known as “Blitzkrieg” (“lightning war”).
Technologies that revolutionized warfare
Missiles
Although artillery was effective, it had a relatively limited range. The missile’s invention in WWII suddenly allowed an army to strike a target hundreds of kilometers away. The first missile — the German V-2 — was relatively primitive, but it laid the foundation for the development of guided cruise missiles and intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
Technologies that revolutionized warfare
Jet engine
Jet aircraft first saw action alongside traditional propeller airplanes at the end of WWII. Jet engines dramatically increased an aircraft’s speed, allowing it to reach a target quicker and making it far harder for an adversary to shoot it down. After WWII, military reconnaissance planes were developed that could fly higher than 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) and faster than the speed of sound.
Technologies that revolutionized warfare
Nuclear weapons
The “second revolution in warfare” announced its horrific arrival on August 6, 1945 when the US dropped the first nuclear bomb — “Little Boy” — on the city of Hiroshima in Japan, killing between 60,000 and 80,000 people instantly. In the Cold War that followed, the US and Soviet Union developed thousands of even more destructive warheads and raised the specter of a devastating nuclear war.
Technologies that revolutionized warfare
Digitization
Recent decades have witnessed the ever more prevalent use of computers to conduct war. The devices made military communication quicker and easier and radically improved the precision and efficiency of many weapons. Armed forces have recently focused on developing cyber warfare capabilities to defend national infrastructure and attack foreign adversaries in cyberspace.
A long ‘Campaign to Stop Killer Robots’
Since 2013, a coalition of HRW and more than 160 other non-governmental organisations has been at the helm of the ‘Campaign to Stop Killer Robots’, that seeks to pre-emptively ban fully autonomous weapons.
“Removing human control from the use of force is now widely regarded as a grave threat to humanity that, like climate change, deserves urgent multilateral action,” Mary Wareham,coordinator of the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots and arms division advocacy director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement published by HRW.
“An international ban treaty is the only effective way to deal with the serious challenges raised by fully autonomous weapons,” Wareham said.
According to the report, the countries calling for the ban include: Algeria, Argentina, Austria, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, China (use only), Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Djibouti, Ecuador, El Salvador, Egypt, Ghana, Guatemala, the Holy See, Iraq, Jordan, Mexico, Morocco, Namibia, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, the State of Palestine, Uganda, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe.
From 2014 to 2019, countries have participated in several meetings of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW).
Read more: 10 things to know about ‘killer robots’
However, HRW said that military giants such as Russia and the United States have blocked progress towards regulation while also investing majorly in the use of artificial intelligence for military purposes and developing land, sea and air-based autonomous weapons systems.
HRW’s report was prepared ahead of this year’s first CCW, which was slated for August 10 but has now been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Warhem said that many governments share the same concerns over permitting machines to take human life in wars and their desire for human control forms the base for a collective action.
“While the pandemic has delayed diplomacy, it shows the importance of being prepared and responding with urgency to existential threats to humanity, such as killer robots.”
Article source: https://www.dw.com/en/human-rights-watch-seeks-treaty-banning-killer-robots/a-54521323?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf