The U.S. military is testing missiles that can steer themselves with artificial intelligence
The Air Force and the Navy, in collaboration with weapons manufacturer Lockheed Martin, are testing missiles that can steer themselves and choose their own targets using a form of artificial intelligence, according to an eye-opening report from The New York Times. U.S. officials deny that the missiles are so-called "autonomous weapons" — i.e. free of human guidance and control — but experts disagree.
The report sheds light on the growing autonomous weapons industry, which could change warfare as we know it. From the Times:
An international summit to be held later this week in Geneva is to determine whether the production of such weapons should be curbed under the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons.
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Ryu Spaeth is deputy editor at TheWeek.com. Follow him on Twitter.
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