'Killer Robots' To Be Discussed At UN Convention

The BBC reports that the robotic experts Prof Ronald Arkin of Georgia Institute of Technology and Prof Noel Sharkey,  co-founder of the Campaign Against Killer Robots and chairman of the International Committee for Robot Arms Control, will debate the efficacy and necessity of killer robots during the UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW).

"A killer robot is a fully autonomous weapon that can select and engage targets without any human intervention. They do not currently exist but advances in technology are bringing them closer to reality," the BBC wrote.

Though autonomous killer robots are still 'fiction', technological advancements are fast tracking their emergence.

Opponents of the use of such killer robots have expressed fears that they are a threat to humanity.

"Autonomous weapons systems cannot be guaranteed to predictably comply with international law," Prof Sharkey, told the BBC.

"I'm concerned about the full automation of warfare," he says.

The BBC also reports that Prof Arkin "hoped killer robots would be able to significantly reduce non-combatant casualties but feared they would be rushed into battle before this was accomplished."

The discussion on killer robots, or lethal autonomous weapons systems will be the first ever such will be addressed within the CCW.