"Militaries around the world are working on drones potentially capable of such autonomous strikes, Peter Asaro, co-founder of the InternationalCommittee for Robot Arms Control, told Live Science.
Regardless of anticipated timelines, the prospect of autonomous drones has many observers worried, particularly because these drones may mistakenly target civilians, Asaro said.
It's also difficult to say what will happen when multiple autonomous weapons get together, he said. "There may be unpredictable interactions between these autonomous systems," Asaro said, citing as a precedent the 2010 "Flash Crash," when autonomous stock-trading robots caused the Dow Jones to suddenly drop 1,000 points."
- Date Published:03/20/2015
- Original Publication:Live Science