UN and Red Cross call for banning and restricting killer robots

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The United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross have issued a joint call for urgent new international rules to protect humanity from the possible consequences of autonomous weapons.

Here's What We Know

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric have labelled the fight against so-called killer robots a global humanitarian priority.

They called on states to set specific bans and restrictions on autonomous weapons systems by 2026 to protect current and future generations.

According to Guterres and Spolaric, autonomous weapons pose serious humanitarian, legal, ethical and security challenges. Their proliferation has the potential to destabilise the world.

The heads of the UN and ICRC believe that machines that decide to take a life without human intervention should be banned. Weapons with unpredictable behaviour controlled by AI algorithms pose a particular danger.

They call for clear restrictions on all autonomous weapons, including bans on their use in certain situations.

Source: TechXplore