War is changing. As drones replace snipers, we must consider the ethics of machines making life or death decisions.

0:00 Introduction
1:44 The Technology
4:02 The Ethics
6:24 What the future holds

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“Is it acceptable for a machine to make life and death decisions in war?” asks Paul Scharre, author of Army of None, a book about autonomous weapons and the future of war.

Autonomous weapons aren’t science fiction. They’ve existed, with varying levels of autonomy, for hundreds of years, and they are getting more sophisticated all the time. Today, powered with deep learning AI and advanced computer vision technology, autonomous weapons can exhibit a range of “freedom” that has never been achieved before in warfare.

Their proponents believe that if autonomous weapons are more accurate, more precise, and kill only their intended targets, it may mean fewer casualties. It may also mean removing the psychological and emotional burden of death from more people.

While opponents argue that relieving human beings from the moral and tactical burden of deciding when to kill a person — deliberately losing control of a weapon — is an ethical nightmare that cannot be allowed to happen.

It’s a question at the heart of the debate around autonomous weapons, as militaries develop them and arms control and humanitarian organizations seek a ban.

“There are many situations in war that are gray,” Scharre says. “And that’s a real challenge when it comes to autonomous weapons. How would a robot know the difference between what’s legal, and what’s right?”

Read the full story here ►► https://www.freethink.com/seri....es/hard-reset/autono

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Read more of our stories on autonomous weapons:
Killer robots will fight our wars: Can they be trusted?
►► https://www.freethink.com/seri....es/uprising?media_id
An AI co-pilots a military jet for the first time
►► https://www.freethink.com/space/ai-military-jet
How to protect our future (when AI gets too smart)
►► https://www.freethink.com/technology/future-of-ai

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