Summary Of Should A Robot Decide When To Kill

“Should a Robot Decide When to Kill?” Adrianne Jeffries writes “Should a Robot Decide When to Kill?”, observing the uses of Military AI from the perspective of a third party journalist. Jeffries’ offers little insight, rather cover both sides of this highly pressing issue. The issue in reference, is the name of the article, “Should a robot decide when to kill?”. Jeffries first explains the rapid innovations in the world of AI by explaining the Robotics Challenge Trials, “a competition put on by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency … the branch of the US Department of Defense dedicated to high risk, high reward technology projects”. The goal of this competition is to create a robot that can be of assistance in “defusing roadside bombs, surveilling dangerous areas, and
However, some are concerned that instead this AI will be used to create “killer robots” so that in battles, lives are not on the line, rather, replaceable AI. The department of defense outlines this technology in a manuscript which states the goal to create an autonomous weapon that can engage targets without intervention from humans. This raises concerns about the decision making of AI in war; how can a machine assess a battlefield situation as a human would?
In any battlefield situation, decisions are split second, whether it be if a building is a school or military base, or if a civilian is innocent or a threat. These decisions have been entrusted to humans with the hope that they can make the correct split second decisions. However, there are many questions regarding whether or not AI have the capability to make these life or death decisions. Human soldiers are able to empathize with insurgents or civilians and able to understand where the person is coming from, an ability robots are without. This trait allows humans to make the final call in battle based on their first