Elon Musk and other AI experts send 'killer robots' warning

Over 100 experts in artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, including the billionaire Elon Musk, have called on the United Nations (UN) to ban the development of "killer robots" before the technology is used in warfare, reports the BBC.

In an open letter to the UN, the experts say the rise in companies developing AI systems that may be "repurposed to develop autonomous weapons" could lead to "the third revolution in warfare."

The 116 experts who signed the paper say these weapons "permit armed conflict to be fought at a scale greater than ever", adding that the UN does not have long to act before the technology falls into the wrong hands.

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It says that AI systems can be used as "weapons of terror, weapons that despots and terrorists use against innocent populations and weapons hacked to behave in undesirable ways."

The letter calls on the UN to add these autonomous systems to the "list of weapons banned under the UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW)", says the BBC.

The Guardian reports that "experts have previously warned that AI technology has reached a point where the deployment of autonomous weapons is feasible within years".

Despite arguments that "AI can be used to make the battlefield a safer place for military personnel", the newspaper says "experts fear that offensive weapons that operate on their own would lower the threshold of going to battle and result in greater loss of human life."

In 2015, a similar letter was signed by "thousands of researchers" warning the UN of the "dangers of autonomous weapons", says Business Insider.

The two letters have led to a meeting with the UN and 123 member nations over the technologies, says The Verge, although "discussions have been delayed due to unpaid fees from member states."

Talks are now expected to commence later this year.