One Noel Sharkey Professor of AI and Robotics at the University of Sheffield, and someone who should know something about the topic, wishes to bring those autonomous automata under the fold of legal responsibility in general, and in theaters of war in particular.

Sharkey points to the rapidly growing number of unmanned combat vehicles, aerial drones and other military robots in use in Iraq, examples being SUGV/Packbot, Stryker, Crusher, Throwbot, NLOS-C, ANS, UAV Class I and IV drones. The SWORDS (Special Weapons Observation Reconnaissance Detection System) combat bot, for example, is designed for infantry support and can be outfitted with a wide array of weapons including anti-armor & anti-bunker munitions, shoulder-launched multipurpose assault weapons, and thermobaric weapons with enhanced blast explosive. For a comprehensive list of current, near-future and long-term capabilities, please consult the DoD Unmanned Systems Roadmap: 2007-2032. The document identifies the three D`s (Dull, Dirty, Dangerous) as being the main motivation for moving towards unmanned platforms, with the vision being increased integration with manned systems, all predicated on more and better autonomous behaviour facilitated by exponentially improved computing power, with the help of some AI. Curiously absent from the doc however is any mention of space, as in weaponization-of.

Prof Sharkey’s concern is about the potential for harm to non-combatants as these these robots develop more autonomy as well as command and control responsibility. He adds that although this may not happen for a while, the time for action is now.

Robot arms race seen underway - World Science, Feb 26 2008

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