Since the advent of Sci-fi culture, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been an emerging subject but from the AI movie "Robot" to work in reality, many steps had to be addressed first. Just recently, 116 leaders in AI and robotics companies from 26 countries have signed a petition against the use of lethal weapons or commonly called as "Killer Robots." Details on the petition are as follows:
Proactive Regulation
The human mind has complex mechanisms of interaction in the brain, with different areas responsible for specific responses, creating the idea of awareness as we understand it.
Although not god-like, we have tried to create consciousness: by programming and coding, Computer Science has made possible for machines to learn and accumulate knowledge.
Continuously, with the rising of the technology, comes the need for regulation – that’s what Elon Musk, former founder of PayPal and other AI experts argue with the United Nations (UN) and government leaders. According to them, to set up a proactive regulation is an urgent matter, taking an innovative step when compared to historical regulations, that only took place after harmful results.
In spite of earlier warnings, robotics leaders had to act once again, this time uniting to sign a letter pleading for the UN to ban autonomous weapons (popularly known as killer robots).
Their argument is strongly sustained. Meanwhile, the invention could be used for protection and only under strict regulations, hacking and terrorism are also other possibilities to be considered.
The advent of armor that don’t need human intervention represent a war revolution similar to the use of gunpowder, with unprecedented results as well as strong possibilities to cause harm on innocent populations.
Risk to Mankind
Although a more fantastical scenario exists, in the future, AI could pose an existential threat to human kind by developing their own ideas, an actual mind of their own. Maybe deciding they’re better without us. This was a possibility similar to the movie "Westworld" in which "Dolores" and the rest of the cast convince the public they’re more worth than any of us.
Finally, the best response may be to act preventively and assure that there are no machines plotting against us in our sleep. This also includes the very real possibility that the use of these Lethal Weapons without human intervention can cause global instability and may possibly trigger another world war.
