Robotisation is taking an increasingly prominent place in industry as well as our daily lives, including in the Netherlands. But it also has a downside. For instance, there are currently major concerns about robots being used in wars.
Several directors of robot companies and other specialists around this topic have warned about the dangers of so-called 'killer robots' in an open letter. The United Nations (UN) has even been called upon to stop these particular robots. One of the signatories is Tesla chief Elon Musk.
At a conference in Melbourne recently focused on artificial intelligence, the letter was made public. Besides Musk, some 115 other robot specialists, from 26 countries in total, warned about the risk of autonomous weapons based on artificial intelligence.
Together
It is the first time AI and robot companies have made a joint statement against these types of robots on this scale. A letter was also sent in 2015, but that was then by a much smaller group.
There are mainly fears of mass production. "Lethal autonomous weapons threaten to become the third revolution in warfare," the letter states. "Once developed, armed conflicts will be able to be fought on a larger scale than ever before, and much faster than humans can comprehend."
Industrialisation wars
A key driver of the letter is Toby Walsh, a professor of Artificial Intelligence at the University of New South Wales in Sydney. He says: "Almost any technology can be used for good and bad purposes, and that includes artificial intelligence. This technology can help address many problems in today's society: inequality and poverty, climate change challenges and the ongoing financial crisis. However, the same technology can also be used in autonomous weapons, thereby industrialising wars."
"We have to make choices today about which future we want. In any case, I support the companies and organisations calling on the UN to ban such weapons, just as chemical weapons are banned, for example."
Netherlands
One of the Dutch signatories is Koen Hindriks. He is director of the startup Interactive Robots and also a lecturer at TU Delft. He doesn't like the idea of robots being able to autonomously make the important choices about life or death, he tells Nu.nl. "There will then be no control from humans, we will no longer be able to intervene." Hindriks' company makes social robots, including for use in education. "So we are very much in favour of making robots that socially have a positive function in society."
Elon Musk, among others, has stated that super-smart robots are a threat to humanity and pose a greater danger than North Korea. Many specialists, including Hindriks, disagree. According to them, the danger lies precisely in making 'dumb' robots.
Hacking
Another danger that Musk and others warn about is security. During an interview recently, he showed an example of a robot originally intended as a personal assistant for people who could use help around the house. Hackers had taught the robot to poke at (now) objects.
By: Kelly Bakker
Source/photo: Nu.nl/AAP
