Secret Conference Discusses The Dangers Of Autonomous Robot Killers

According to the New York Times, a secret conference was held last February and organized by Eric Horvitz, Microsoft researcher and president of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence to discuss the upcoming Rise Of The Robots and our inevitable doom.

With recent advances in robotics, including machines that can find and interface with power sources on their own such as EATR and of course Predator drones that fly without a human operator and may easily be someday equipped with the full autonomy to select and engage targets, a conference discussing the wisdom of armed decision making robots is a really good idea.

Scientists at the conference believe if it is not already possible for a machine to decide for itself to engage and kill then the day will be coming soon.

The question I have is simple, if it is very difficult for a human to make the killing  decision in combat, how can a robot ever be trusted to decide? Unless the robot patrols a black and white battlefield, where anything that is not it or one of it can exist, a robot accompanying human troops in any capacity would be an invitation for friendly fire or collateral damages, something that happens regularly among even human troops.

But, human beings are very expensive to train and to maintain. In the end, cost eclipses wisdom. Thanks Popsci.