Will the spread of "autonomous weapons" capable of killing continue?Accelerating technological evolution and unconsensual regulations

2021 may be remembered as the year the world sees the Lethal Autonomous Weapons System (LAWS), previously regarded as a "future concern," finally becoming a "reality" on the battlefield. .. It was also the year when policy makers were unable to reach an agreement on how to address this issue.

On December 17, 120 countries participating in the UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons could not agree on restrictions on the development and use of lethal autonomous weapons. Instead, it continues discussions and vows to "strengthen" the measures.

"I'm very sorry, and I'm sure I missed the opportunity," said Neil Davison, senior science and policy adviser at the Geneva-based International Red Cross. About nine months before the meeting, when this agreement was not reached, the United Nations reported that lethal autonomic weapons were used for the first time in an armed conflict during the civil war in Libya.

Circumstances of countries that "oppose" the ban on Lethal Autonomous Weapons

In recent years, more weapon systems have incorporated autonomous elements. For example, some missiles can fly within a particular area without specific instructions.

However, in general, humans are needed to launch an attack. And most governments say they will continue to "intervene" humans when using these technologies, at least for now.

But advances in artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms, sensors, and electronic devices have made it easier to build more sophisticated autonomous systems. For this reason, there is a possibility that machines that can judge the timing of exercising killing power by themselves will appear.

An increasing number of countries, including Brazil, South Africa, New Zealand and Switzerland, are arguing that lethal autonomic weapons should be restricted by treaties, such as chemical, biological and land mines. Germany and France support the restrictions on some autonomous weapons, including those that may target humans. China supports a very narrow range of restrictions.

Other countries such as the United States, Russia, India, the United Kingdom and Australia oppose the ban on lethal autonomic weapons. In order to avoid being strategically disadvantaged, it is necessary to work on the development of such technology.

Accelerating advances in autonomous technology

Murder robots have been arousing people's imagination for a long time, and have become the source of ideas for popular science fiction characters and dystopian future images. In recent years, innovations have been brought to the AI ​​field, and new types of computer programs have emerged that have more thinking power than humans in specific areas. Under these circumstances, tech giants are beginning to warn about the existential threats posed by smarter machines.

This issue has become more and more urgent this year. The United Nations reported that the Turkish drone "Kargu-2" was used in the civil war in Libya in 2020. National consensus government forces have launched autonomous drones that target and attack humans against troops in support of General Khalifa Haftar, who leads the Libyan National Army.

"Logistics and retreating General Haftar's forces ... were tracked by unmanned combat aircraft and attacked remotely," the report explained. The system is "programmed to attack targets without the need for a data connection between the operator and the weapon, and is virtually true'Fire Forget and Find'. It was equipped with abilities. "