From the January 26, 2012 Los Angeles Times, “New drone has no pilot anywhere, so who’s accountable?” by W.J. Hennigan The X-47B marks a paradigm shift in warfare, one that is likely to have far-reaching consequences. With the drone’s ability to be flown autonomously by onboard computers, it could usher in an era when death…
From Aljazeera’s series “Fault Lines”, an in-depth look at the adoption and use of drones and robotic weaponry by the U.S. military.
The Associated Press reports that an “on-the-ground investigation” it conducted in North Waziristan of “10 of the deadliest [drone] attacks in the past 18 months” found that “of at least 194 people killed in the attacks, about 70 percent – at least 138 – were militants. The remaining 56 were either civilians or tribal police,”…
On Sunday 16 January 2011, the Guardian reports on the multi-purpose use of drones, from police enforcement to paparazzi and, obviously, in war zones. In this regard… Noel Sharkey, professor of robotics and artificial intelligence at Sheffield University, told the Royal Society meeting there are credible estimates that one in three casualties from drone attacks…
Are We Giving Our Military Machines Too Much Power?, Popular science asks, quoting ICRAC’s Noel Sharkey: As quickly as countries build these systems, they want to deploy them, says Noel Sharkey, a professor of artificial intelligence and robotics at the University of Sheffield in England: “There’s been absolutely no international discussion. It’s all going forward…
Sunday 21 November 2010, the Observer reports on the technological development in unmanned systems, quoting ICARC’s Noel Sharkey. He … … says it is impossible for autonomous robots today to distinguish reliably between civilians and combatants, a cornerstone of international humanitarian law. He also believes robots lack the subtle judgment to adhere to another humanitarian…
On Thursday 16 September 2010, the Guardian reports on ICRAC’s meeting in Berlin on the rapid proliferation of military drone planes and armed robots and possible arms control measures to curb this development, quoting ICRAC’s Steve Wright: “We need a new treaty to limit proliferation. All the arms fairs now are selling UAVs. It’s naive…
The German technology website “heise online” reports on ICRAC’s meeting in Berlin. The full text – in German – of the article can be found here. ICRAC’s Berlin Statement can be found here.
The German weekly news magazine “Der Spiegel” reports on ICRAC’s meeting in Berlin. The full text – in German – of the article can be found here. ICRAC’s Berlin Statement can be found here.
A short piece on how “[t]echnology takes our minds by surprise again”, qoting ICRAC’s Noel Sharkey and touching on the issue that “humans can be held accountable, machines can’t.” The full text of the article can be found here.