Ban On Weapons And War Machinery That Were Controlled By...

In July 28, 2015, a letter was addressed at the International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence at Argentina that petitioned for a ban on weapons and war machinery that were controlled by artificial intelligence. Its rapidly increasing research and growth posed a threat to the safety of humanity and its beneficial value. The letter openly stated that technology had reached a point where the creation of autonomous machines would be reachable in a matter of years. Letting the development continue could possibly result in the mass production of these weapons and accessible to all kinds of civilians and malicious forces such as terrorists and dictators. Thus, the 2500+ researchers who agreed with the letter said that they find â€Å"no†¦show more content†¦However, these machines have been given an increasing amount of freedom such as a 24/7 watch for intruders, unlike humans, and the ability to shoot at their own will. The topic of giving these machines a certain degree of freedom and moral value has been a subject of controversy. Should machines be given free will beyond human control? Many researches and philosophers like Patrick Lin spoke against the issue of the letter, saying that it is â€Å"a useful letter of awareness, but nobody can predict whether robots will gain full autonomy in the future.† (Lin qtd. in Knight Par.8) While the idea of preserving human lives, the danger of robots given their free will could result in more than the deaths of the adversary, but also innocent civilians. The liberty of the robots will make them persons and not necessarily comply with our demands, since their freedom is superior to our control. In what follows, I will argue that war robots are not persons and should not be given a higher level of autonomy and moral value and that humans should keep them under control. â€Å"Robots reduce the need for humans in combat and therefore save the lives of soldiers, sailors and pilots. What parent would send their child into a war zone if a robot could do the job instead?† (Parkin Par. 8) Certainly, human lives are fragile and are not finite, but one must not forget to consider