Robots That Kill

Militaries around the world are designing artificial intelligence–powered weapons that could one day make their own decisions about who to target. The technology could change the scope of warfare, but at what cost?

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Host
  • Gabrielle Sierra
    Director, Podcasting
Credits

Asher Ross - Supervising Producer

Markus Zakaria - Audio Producer and Sound Designer

Rafaela Siewert - Associate Podcast Producer

Episode Guests
  • Paul Scharre
    Senior Fellow and Director of the Technology and National Security Program, Center for a New American Security
  • Toby Walsh
    Professor of Artificial Intelligence at The University of New South Wales
  • Mary Wareham
    Advocacy Director, Arms Division at Human Rights Watch

Show Notes

Lethal autonomous weapons, sometimes called killer robots, are military-grade weapons controlled by artificial intelligence. Some see these devices as an opportunity, while others consider their development to be a major threat. This episode lays out the risks they pose and the controversy around them.

 

From CFR

 

Laying Down the LAWS: Strategizing Autonomous Weapons Governance,” Taylor Sullivan

 

The Pentagon Plans for Autonomous Systems,” Micah Zenko

 

Read More

 

Coming Soon to a Battlefield: Robots That Can Kill,” Atlantic

 

The Pentagon’s ‘Terminator Conundrum’: Robots That Could Kill on Their Own,” New York Times

 

China and the U.S. Are Fighting a Major Battle Over Killer Robots and the Future of AI,” TIME

 

UK, US and Russia among those opposing killer robot ban,” Guardian 

 

Tech leaders: Killer robots would be ‘dangerously destabilizing’ force in the world,” Washington Post

 

Death by algorithm: the age of killer robots is closer than you think,” Vox

 

Watch or Listen

 

The Dawn of Killer Robots,” Motherboard

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