"Anti-autonomous weapons advocate groups are concerned about how these cooperative swarms will select targets, according to Peter Asaro, co-founder of the International Committee for Robot Arms Control (ICRC) and spokesperson for the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots. He said it depends on whether these drones are more akin to sophisticated guided missiles controlled by humans, or autonomous killing machines.
“If they are given approved target sets by human operators, and then decide amongst themselves the best tactical solution to engaging those targets among a network of connected devices, then it is a semi-autonomous system,” Asaro told Vocativ. “If, however, these networks are able to add targets to the set, based on their sensor data, or the processing of network data, and there is not requirement for humans to approve the addition of those targets, then it is an autonomous weapon according to the definition proposed by the ICRC. And such a system would be a serious concern.”"
- Date Published:04/12/2017
- Original Publication:Vocativ