X

Killer robots? Yes, you should be worried

An expert in AI warns that a push toward greater autonomy for battlefield bots, some already armed with machine guns or missiles, poses a serious and imminent risk.

Jon Skillings Editorial director
Jon Skillings is an editorial director at CNET, where he's worked since 2000. A born browser of dictionaries, he honed his language skills as a US Army linguist (Polish and German) before diving into editing for tech publications -- including at PC Week and the IDG News Service -- back when the web was just getting under way, and even a little before. For CNET, he's written on topics from GPS, AI and 5G to James Bond, aircraft, astronauts, brass instruments and music streaming services.
Expertise AI, tech, language, grammar, writing, editing Credentials
  • 30 years experience at tech and consumer publications, print and online. Five years in the US Army as a translator (German and Polish).
Jon Skillings
Weaponized Talon
Qinetiq

At the moment, the thousands of robots roaming combat zones have been firmly under the control of human operators--they're really not that much different from the remote-controlled car or airplane you or your kids might play with. But Noel Sharkey, an expert in artificial intelligence, is warning that a push toward greater autonomy for the machines, some of which are already armed with machine guns or missiles, poses a serious and imminent risk.

Read more in this Agence France-Presse story: "Automated killer robots 'threat to humanity': expert"