UAVs Equipped With Ethics Code

In the future, wars will be fought by robots. To some, this future is a little too ‘Hollywood’, but with UAVs already being used in war, it is quite inevitable that robots will be taking the front lines of war and eventually, wars entirely.

Ron Arkin, a robotics engineer at Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta is working to create an ethics code in order for military robots to understand the ‘rules of engagement’. With the help of previous battle simulations in recent campaigns of US troops, Arkin is able to compile human behavioral responses towards various scenarios.

For example, if a robot such as a UAV identifies hostiles, it will prepare for assault; however, if the location of attack is near a hospital, the UAV will disengage until a better opportunity arises.

This “ethical governator” also has a “guilt” system where horrible errors will result in the robots switching into reserve mode. So, say if the UAV damages a school with children during an air raid, it will automatically switch to reserve mode, learn from its mistake and refine its judgments.

Building a weapon that destroys everything that moves is easy to scientists. Building a killing machine that kills ethically and rethinks strategies, now that is something to blog about.

This is clear evidence of artificial intelligence and that reality might not be too far behind Hollywood. Human reality is only limited by human imagination. What do you think about UAVs that can make ethical decisions? Are there any downsides to killing machines that can hesitate?