Robots should be armless
27 Feb 2008 | 07:36 GMT
Phased plasma rifle in the 40 watt range?
TOP boffin Noel Sharkey has warned that giving robots guns could pose a threat to humanity.
According to AFP, the University of Sheffield professor told Britain's Royal United Services Institute that autonomous, gun-toting robots developed for warfare could easily fall into the hands of terrorists and may one day unleash a robot arms race.
Sharkey said that intelligent machines were increasingly being deployed on battlefields around the world. The first three armed combat robots fitted with large-caliber machine guns were deployed to Iraq last summer.
Sharkey had no problems with the status quo because a human finger has always been required to push the button or pull the trigger.
However he said it was vital that did not change.
He is worried that one of these robots could be nicked and used by terrorists to replace suicide bombers.
However he is also concerned that artificial intelligence could be used to decide to terminate a human.
Sharkey said it was important to have an outright ban on autonomous weapons systems. µ
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