As military forces seek to apply increasingly sophisticated Artificial Intelligence to weapons technologies, a host of questions arise. Is it ethical to delegate the decision to use lethal force to an autonomous system? Who or what could be held responsible when lethal force is used improperly by such systems?
This lecture will explore these questions and will also discuss the efforts to prohibit such weapons, how the issue has been discussed within the UN and the role played by engineers and scientists. Finally, the talk will examine the implications for autonomous systems to make lethal decisions outside of armed military conflict.