Musk, Hawking warn of 'inevitable' killer robot arms race

wired ^ | 7-27-2015 | MICHAEL RUNDLE

[Citizen Zed]

A global robotic arms race "is virtually inevitable" unless a ban is imposed on autonomous weapons, Stephen Hawking, Elon Musk and 1,000 academics, researchers and public figures have warned.

In an open letter presented at the International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Buenos Aries, the Future of Life Institute signatories caution that "starting a military AI arms race is a bad idea, and should be prevented by a ban on offensive autonomous weapons beyond meaningful human control".

Although the letter, first reported by the Guardian, notes that "we believe that AI has great potential to benefit humanity in many ways, and that the goal of the field should be to do so", it concludes that "this technological trajectory is obvious: autonomous weapons will become the Kalashnikovs of tomorrow".

Joining Professor Hawking and SpaceX founder Elon Musk below the letter are Steve Wozniak, cofounder of Apple, linguist Noam Chomsky, cofounder of Sky Jaan Tallinn and Stephen Goose, director of Human Rights Watch's arms division.

The UK says it is not developing lethal AI, but the potential to build such weapons already exists and is developing fast -- a recent report into the future of warfare commissioned by the US military predicts "swarms of robots" will be ubiquitous by 2050. In response, experts and high-profile figures like Musk have made repeated calls to limit the development of deadly AI, even as peaceful autonomy grows more central to virtually every other area of tech and industry. The Future of Life Institute announced in June it would use a $10m donation from Elon Musk to fund 37 projects aimed at keeping AI "beneficial", with $1.5m dedicated to a new research centre in the UK run by Oxford and Cambridge universities.

[Citizen Zed]

[Steely Tom]

"If there is no solution, there is no problem."

- Lazarus Long

[Yo-Yo]

"You have 20 seconds to comply... 19 ... 18 ..."

[rjsimmon]

Does he mean 'smart bombs' or:

[DemforBush]

I actually have fears of another sort of killer robotics - nanotech. It’s an “emerging technology” still in the research stage, of course. But in 20 years, it may well be a reality.

The upside is tremendous - everything from self-repairing machinery to medical nanobots who can repair tissue or hunt down cancer cells.

The downside is, like any other tool, in the wrong hands it probably could be used to destroy instead of heal. Programmed to attack a vital organ, a thousand nanobots, each smaller than a grain of dust, could be an invisible weapon that could be used to kill well, anyone. And you wouldn’t even see or feel it coming.

So yeah, I’ve probably veered a bit into tinfoil hat territory here, but it’s still a scary proposition.

[DiogenesLamp]

I actually have fears of another sort of killer robotics - nanotech. It’s an “emerging technology” still in the research stage, of course. But in 20 years, it may well be a reality.

The upside is tremendous - everything from self-repairing machinery to medical nanobots who can repair tissue or hunt down cancer cells.

The downside is, like any other tool, in the wrong hands it probably could be used to destroy instead of heal. Programmed to attack a vital organ, a thousand nanobots, each smaller than a grain of dust, could be an invisible weapon that could be used to kill well, anyone. And you wouldn’t even see or feel it coming.

So yeah, I’ve probably veered a bit into tinfoil hat territory here, but it’s still a scary proposition.

That is basically the plot of the remake of "The Day the Earth Stood Still" with Keanu Reeves as the main character.

The Secret Weapon that the Alien unleashes on the earth is a whirlwind of Nanobots that attack and destroy everything.

Very "Gaia" oriented Hippie drivel about Humanity being an infection of which the planet needs to be cleansed.

[Navy Patriot]

Do not wake a slumbering Sky Net.

[Swordmaker]

Do not wake a slumbering Sky Net.

Do not even build it.

[Mariner]

Lethal, AI Robots will proceed whether there is a ban or not.

The temptation is too strong.

I hope our guys are the best.

[Navy Patriot]

Do not even build it.

It's already built.

[alexander_busek]

It's, say, January of 1943. The Manhattan Project is in its embryonic stages. Hitler is about to suffer his first decisive military disaster (Stalingrad), but it is as yet not at all evident that a defeat of the Axis Powers is inevitable. With the Battle of Midway in the Pacific, the tide has turned against Japan, but on the continent of Europe, the "jury" is still out. The Battle of Britain was decided in England's favor, but the first V1 flying bomb and the first V2 rocket have yet to be launched. Now, British and American scientists are being assembled to create a new and devastating bomb - the A Bomb. Later estimates will forecast the cost to human life in invading Japan in the millions - if the A Bomb is not used. But at the moment, it's still on the drawing boards.

So, the question is: Should we halt research on the atomic bomb? Should we continue the war against Nazi Germany, Italy, and Japan with conventional weapons - with the corresponding odds stacked in their favor?

Regards,

[pabianice]

http://www.sfbc.com/welcome/

[PapaBear3625]

experts and high-profile figures like Musk have made repeated calls to limit the development of deadly AI

Unlike nuclear weapons, testing of lethal robots will be completely undetectable by outsiders. Treaties to limit lethal AI will thus only bind those nations which tend to keep treaties.

Signing a "no lethal robot" treaty would thus amount to unilateral disarmament in that area.

[onedoug]

Stay relevant, Stevie.