[LINK] Killer robots and military ethics

Jim Birch planetjim at gmail.com
Thu Jul 18 12:07:43 AEST 2013


Alan Saunders had a good Philosophers Zone this a while back with PW Singer
that I'd recommend to anyone interested.  (That's the US academic Peter
Warren Singer, not the Australian Peter Singer.)

http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/philosopherszone/the-morality-of-robo-wars---pw-singer/3701744

While the well known "no skin in the game" problem was discussed, he also
made an interesting positive point was that a robot might exercise a lot
more restraint than a human because it is not hormonally concerned about
it's own safety.

Jim





On 18 July 2013 10:12, Roger Clarke <Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au> wrote:

> It'll be interesting to see whether things have moved on during the
> last 20 years.  I fear not.  See:
> http://www.rogerclarke.com/SOS/Asimov.html
>
> I pondered ethical aspects of the use of drones *by the media* before
> the Press Council recently:
> http://www.rogerclarke.com/II/APC-130225.html
> But the surveillance threat pales a bit in comparison with
> remote-controlled and even semi-autonomous death-dealing drones.
>
> I'm a bit worried about the venue though, which appears to be in Gunnedah.
>
>
> At 8:50 +1000 18/7/13, Tom Worthington wrote:
> >Professor Christian Enemark will speak on "Killer robots: military
> >ethics and post-human war" at the Australian National University in
> >Canberra, 5:30pm 8 August 2013:
> >
> >"In April this year the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary
> >or Arbitrary Executions recommended a moratorium on the development of
> >lethal autonomous weapon systems (so-called 'killer robots'). In some
> >countries there is strong technological and military momentum towards
> >the use of such systems, partly because the physical and mental
> >frailties of human users of force are increasingly seen as posing
> >operational risks and impediments.  ... Christian Enemark addresses the
> >critical issue of whether robotics technology can overcome ethical
> >shortcomings in the use of force while preserving the moral influence of
> >human responsibility."
> >
> >RSVP:
> >
> http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/cap-events/2013-08-08/killer-robots-military-ethics-and-post-human-war
> >
> >
> >--
> >Tom Worthington FACS CP, TomW Communications Pty Ltd. t: 0419496150
> >The Higher Education Whisperer http://blog.highereducationwhisperer.com/
> >PO Box 13, Belconnen ACT 2617, Australia  http://www.tomw.net.au
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> >
> >Adjunct Senior Lecturer, Research School of Computer Science,
> >Australian National University http://cs.anu.edu.au/courses/COMP7310/
> >_______________________________________________
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>
> --
> Roger Clarke                                 http://www.rogerclarke.com/
>
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>
> Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Law               University of NSW
> Visiting Professor in Computer Science    Australian National University
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