A United Nations panel has decided to proceed with discussions that could result in a framework of regulations around autonomous weapons, or killer robots.
The Campaign to Stop Killer Robots is quickly gaining worldwide support comprises advocacy groups such as Human Rights Watch, and has already gained the backing of 22 countries.
At a meeting scheduled for 2018, the panel, chaired by Ambassador Amandeep Gill of India, will discuss options that could result in one of three scenarios:
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A legally binding instrument
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A code of conduct
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A technology process review
These ideas were discussed this week, and seek to create a framework for controlling the proliferation of killer robots, or autonomous entities that do not require human operators to control or direct them.
Various advocacy groups have advised that government action is too slow to keep up with rapid advancements in weaponization using artificial intelligence technologies such as neural networks and deep learning algorithms.
The meetings fall under the purvey of the U.N.’s Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, also known as the Inhumane Weapons Convention, which have been used in its nearly four decades long history to set limits around the use of explosives and arms.
Last week, this video was played on the sidelines of on the sidelines of the first formal U.N. meeting of government experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems.
Watch it.
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