Robotics

Boston Dynamics and other firms pen open letter against weaponized robots

A leading group of robotics firms have published an open letter pledging not to weaponize their machines
Boston Dynamics
A leading group of robotics firms have published an open letter pledging not to weaponize their machines
Boston Dynamics

As robots from Boston Dynamics and the like continue to find more widespread applications, concerns are growing around their misuse. In a bid to prevent the spread of killer robots in society, a group of robotics companies have published an open letter pledging not to weaponize their machines, and pleading with users to do the same.

The idea that autonomous machines can be weaponized and deployed to cause harm is not new, but as our access to highly capable robots continues to improve we have seen these concerns raised in a more mainstream sphere. We’ve seen leaders in AI and robotics petition the UN to ban the development of these types of machines, and these movements continue to gain momentum as more companies and organizations lend their name to the cause.

In October last year, Ghost Robotics showed off a robotic dog with a sniper rifle mounted on its back. Another video doing the rounds on social media earlier this year showed a quadruped robot carrying an assault rifle and firing at targets on the range. Questions remain over the veracity of that second example, but the point remains: vision of robotic dogs combined with deadly weapons is an unnerving glimpse into the future.

Boston Dynamics, together with Agility Robotics, ANYbotics, Boston Dynamics, Clearpath Robotics, Open Robotics and Unitree Robotics, have today voiced their concerns around these possibilities. In an open letter addressed to the industry, the group notes the increasing affordability and accessibility of advanced commercially available robots, and the increasing potential for their misuse.

“Untrustworthy people could use them to invade civil rights or to threaten, harm, or intimidate others,” the letter reads. “One area of particular concern is weaponization. We believe that adding weapons to robots that are remotely or autonomously operated, widely available to the public, and capable of navigating to previously inaccessible locations where people live and work, raises new risks of harm and serious ethical issues.”

The letter goes on to include a pledge from the group to not weaponize their robots, nor support others to do so, and calls on policy-makers and users to promote their safe use. It also includes a plan to diligently assess their customers' intentions for their products and work on technological solutions to reduce the risks of robotic weaponization.

“We are convinced that the benefits for humanity of these technologies strongly outweigh the risk of misuse, and we are excited about a bright future in which humans and robots work side by side to tackle some of the world’s challenges,” the letter concludes.

Source: Boston Dynamics

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10 comments
Rustgecko
I am sure their pleading will be taken very seriously in Sweeden, Norway, and NZ, but I am not so sure that China (with its rapidly falling population), Iran, Russia, North Korea or even Saudi have the same values.
StanislawZolczynski
Hope everybody will abstain from such a horrid idea.. If for nothing else so because of hacking action turning armed robots against users.
Daishi
@Rustgecko's point is part of why if we reached a point where an AI superintelligence ever existed having it escape the bounds of human control is inevitable. Even in the unlikely scenario it could not escape on it's own some human somewhere would give the thing autonomy in pursuit of power.
Bob809
SPOILER ALERT: If you have not watched the French version of War of The Worlds, and you want to watch it, read no further.
These look very much like those portrayed in the French (by Canal Films) version of War of The Worlds. The 'invaders' use them to 'clean up,' and take out the survivors using a bolt in the head, much the same way as cattle are killed in an abbotoir.
epochdesign
Sci-fi has for over half a century predicted that robots will be weaponized if they are built. And we're just now starting to worry about that becoming a reality? Maybe should have put a little more thought into what you were getting into. What happened after people decided that bombs needed to be 1000 times more destructive?.. now the planet is in a perpetual nuclear stalemate. Playing god with genetics, nothing could go wrong with that, right? What happens in a weaponized robot filled society controlled by AI when the AI figures out humans are the worst kind of parasite? I recall a quote from Einstein about the two things that are infinite. I just don't think there is a Darwin Award big enough for what we've gotten ourselves into.
Jon Zax
Eighty years ago Azimov contemplated this very problem and created the three Laws of Robotics. It's time to be serious about these ideas.
Otherwise, can you say Skynet.
Eggbones
Over the centuries, war has evolved from hand-to-hand to ever increasing degrees of remoteness, to the point where drone pilots in one country now kill people in another.

I'd be very happy with robots being weaponised, provided they were prohibited from being used on humans. Let's settle disputes by robot wars and eliminate civilian casualties. The next progressions after that are replacing hardware with a video game, then eventually just flipping a coin. Bring on the abstracted battle!
Daishi
@Eggbones The problem with that is the countries with the least to lose could be the first to push for war. Do you really see superpowers ceding control of their countries to Zimbabwe over a coin flip? You may avoid the casualties of war but the economic costs of losing a war, resources, land, and food don't go away. People have considered the consequences of war and chosen it anyway over oppression for a reason.
Erik
I believe that countries will most likely weaponize them, I just hope it's like a drone and controlled by a person.
aksdad
So it's more humane to put human police or soldiers in harm's way to neutralize an armed threat?