Saudi Arabia announces Sunday as first day of Eid Al Fitr    Crown Prince orders key real estate reforms in Riyadh to stabilize land and rental prices    King Salman, Crown Prince extend condolences to Thailand's king over earthquake victims    Tourism Ministry enforces closure orders, warns violators of penalties    Elon Musk's xAI acquires X in all-stock deal    Makkah and Madinah mobile data usage exceeds global average during Ramadan: CST    US, Japan mark 80th anniversary of Iwo Jima battle with memorial service    Trump signals openness to auto tariff deal    Sweet sales surge ahead of Eid as Saudi chocolate imports top 123 million kg in 2024    Trump renews push to acquire Greenland    Myanmar earthquake death toll climbs to 144    Over 2.5 million attend Khatm Al-Qur'an prayers in Makkah    Saudi non-oil exports jump 10.7% in January    Saudi creatives shine at Jeddah's Fawanees Nights with art, fashion, and storytelling    T1 CEO confirms Gumayusi's return for LCK Spring after lineup shakeup    100 Thieves claim Marvel Rivals Invitational NA crown as 2025 scene heats up    Bollywood actress vindicated over boyfriend's death after media hounding    Saudi Arabia hold Japan to goalless draw in Saitama to stay in World Cup hunt    Disney's Snow White film tops box office despite bad reviews    NewJeans announces hiatus after setback in court battle    George Foreman, heavyweight champion and cultural icon, dies at 76    Grand Mufti rules against posting prayers and preaching in mosques on social media    King Salman prays for peace and stability for Palestinians in Ramadan message King reaffirms Saudi Arabia's commitment to serving the Two Holy Mosques and pilgrims    Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan 'out of danger' after attack at home in Mumbai    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    









‘Killer robots' must be stopped now, scientists tell UN
Published in Alriyadh on 22 - 08 - 2017

Scientists from around the world have called for the United Nations (UN) to take action to stop the proliferation of "killer robots", China's Xinhua news agency reported.
At the International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Melbourne on Monday, technology leaders from around the world congregated at the event, first held in 1969, and requested that the development of weaponry using artificial intelligence be halted as "once this Pandora's box is opened, it will be hard to close."
As part of this open letter to the UN, the scientists and business leaders, including world-renowned AI expert Toby Walsh, Elon Musk of Tesla, and James Chow of China's UBTECH, called for the use of lethal autonomous weapons, or killer robots, to be outlawed much in the same way as chemical and biological weapons on the battlefield.
"Once developed, they will permit armed conflict to be fought at a scale greater than ever, and at timescales faster than humans can comprehend. These can be weapons of terror, weapons that despots and terrorists use against innocent populations," the letter said.
Signed by many of the world's top AI minds, the letter was spearheaded by Walsh, a professor in AI at the University of New South Wales, who told Xinhua recently that he is concerned with what he feels is an "arms race" occurring around the world.
"I'm very worried about the impact that autonomy will have on the battlefields. There's an arms race happening today, you can see the US military, the UK military, the Russian military — it's a bit of an arms race," Walsh said.
"It would be a very dangerous, destabilised world we end up in if we do allow ourselves to fight war with these sorts of weapons."
Walsh and his cosignatories are asking the UN to step in and ban autonomous weapons, and he said that there has already been some positive movement from the UN in this regard, hoping this letter will spur even more actions.
"This is one where myself and thousands of my colleagues actually signed an open letter saying that the UN should take action, and the UN is starting slowly, but surely to take action in this space," Walsh said.
One of the biggest worries shared by these technology leaders is that a rogue state, or tyrannical regime, would be able to use this these weapons in order to suppress their populace into docility, and Walsh outlined the likely path he feels will be taken in such an eventuality.
"It is certainly a worry that I have that autonomous robots will be used to suppress a whole nation, and it will be much easier than it used to be," Walsh said.
The problem with the autonomous technology is, according to Walsh, the fact that it is dual use which means that the exact same processes that are undertaken by innocuous creations, are also the same as those that are undertaken by the sentient weaponry.
Walsh said that while it is imperative that we continue to develop this technology as the benefits to all humankind will be seemingly endless, checks and balances must be agreed upon to ensure that the safety of people around the world is held to be paramount.
"We will want autonomous cars, that technology will be developed whatever we think, there are so many benefits to it. But the same technology with a little modification could be used for very bad ends," Walsh said.
"So it really is mostly about legislation. It really is about society as a whole like chemical weapons that this is morally repugnant, and we should not use them in warfare." — Bernama


Clic here to read the story from its source.