ONU ban debate of killer robots

            Last week (04/15/2015) the United Nations Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) is again listening to technical and legal experts on the subject of killer robots, weapons systems designed to shoot without human intervention. The series of panel discussions and lectures is the last step on the way to an international treaty on autonomous lethal weapons. The expectation is that the killer robots become so hateful as landmines and chemical weapons. The key element in the discussions is the definition of "significant human control" - what kind of human intervention is necessary in the process of killing someone on the battlefield or out?

           

International Humanitarian Law

Peter Asaro, a researcher at Stanford University and member of the International Committee for the Control of Robotic Arms, said during the panel that there is a growing consensus that it is unacceptable that robots kill people without human supervision. "I think there is a consensus on the fact that, in its most extreme form, you simply can not have guns out there without any human supervision," said Asaro. "But there is still disagreement and work to be done on how we can define it in legal terms.

Ban of killer robots

            Even the estimates more hopes of the delegates at the meeting suggest that a treaty or formal prohibition of killer robots will take at least a year or two. But the fact that the ONU agrees to continue discussing the issue is being seen as a sign that this resolution is on the horizon.

By Rosana Ribeiro