Apparently nervous that the completely fictional movie Transformers could suddenly happen in real life, the United Nations is hosting a four-day session to prevent a nightmare scenario in which killer robots take control of the world.
Starting today in Geneva, the U.N. is discussing "lethal autonomous robots" in hopes of preventing such a barbaric scenario from ever occurring. Steve Goose, an official from the Human Rights Watch, seems to be the most concerned about machines turning against us. "Killer robots would threaten the most fundamental of rights and principles in international law," he said. "We don't see how these inanimate machines could understand or respect the value of life, yet they would have the power to determine when to take it away."
Although this might sound like crazy talk, autonomous robots like drones are becoming increasingly commonplace on the battlefield. Experts predict militaries will produce machines that are trained to kill without human handlers within the next 20 years, leaving opponents scared what could happen if the U.N. doesn't take action now.
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