The United Nations goes to war against robotic killers. Historical moment

"UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for new rules on the use of autonomous weapons. This is to prevent a situation in which artificial intelligence itself will be able to find and destroy enemy targets, including people. 

 

A recent UN Security Council report on Libya revealed that in March last year, the Turkish STM Kargu-2 drone hit enemy convoys. This intelligent missile took off, identified the target and attacked without human intervention the retreating soldiers loyal to Libyan General Khalif Haftar. 

 

Dynamically developing technologies in the arms sector write a new chapter in the military history of the world.

Autonomous weapons, supported by artificial intelligence (AI) and, for example, facial recognition systems, are a serious threat. The head of the UN calls for tough measures to stop the "killer robots". A suicide drone is just one example of the use of such technology. 

 

It was also discussed about the remotely controlled intelligent machine gun, with which in November 2020 Israel killed Mohsen Fakhrizadech, an Iranian scientist in the development of nuclear weapons.

 

At the UN forum, talks about restrictions on this type of weapon have been conducted for eight years. Now pressure is increasing for governments to act decisively. "I urge you to agree on an ambitious plan for the future to restrict the use of certain autonomous weapons," Guterres, quoted by Reuters, called on Monday.

Some countries participating in the convention, including Austria, want a total ban on "killer robots". The United States is reluctant to block this precision weaponry, and the Russians are also blocking such initiatives. Members of the Stop Killer Robots campaign are calling for a quick settlement of this issue. Its representative Clare Conboy warns that the pace of development of such autonomous technologies is starting to exceed the pace of diplomatic talks about them. "The historic moment has come to take steps to protect humanity from the autonomous use of force," appealed Conboy.

Many months ago, Human Rights Watch called for a preventive ban on the development, production and use of fully autonomous weapons. In turn, such visionaries as Steven Hawking and Elon Musk have repeatedly warned that "robo-weapons" are a threat to humanity. 

 

AI cannot distinguish between civilians and soldiers. In addition, there is a risk that future intelligent weapons could slip out of human control completely."