Why We Really Should Ban Autonomous Weapons: A Response
Note that his first two arguments apply to any weapons system. Yet the world community has rather successfully banned biological weapons, space-based nuclear weapons, and blinding laser weapons; and even for arms such as chemical weapons, land mines, and cluster munitions where bans have been breached or not universally ratified, severe stigmatization has limited their use. We wonder if Ackerman supports those bans and, if so, why.
“A treaty can be effective in this regard by stopping an [autonomous weapons] arms race and preventing large-scale manufacturing of such weapons. Moreover, a treaty certainly does not apply to defensive anti-robot weapons, even if they operate in autonomous mode”
Argument (2) amounts to the claim that as long as there are evil people, we need to make sure they are well armed with the latest technology; to prevent them from gaining access to the most effective means of killing people is to “blame the technology” for the evil inclinations of humans. We disagree. The purpose of preventing them from gaining access to the technology is to prevent them from killing large numbers of people. A treaty can be effective in this regard by stopping an arms race and preventing large-scale manufacturing of such weapons. Moreover, a treaty certainly does not apply to defensive anti-robot weapons, even if they operate in autonomous mode.
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