The United Nations' Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons is meeting in Geneva this week to discuss the future of lethal autonomous weapons (LAWs) — technology more colloquially known as killer robots. Specifically under consideration are robots that can make their own decisions about who to kill independent of human direction.
Though hardly as advanced as the robots of science fiction, LAWs already exist. In fact, they're employed by South Korea in the demilitarized zone bordering North Korea. There, a robot made by Samsung can independently identify and shoot human targets as far as 2.5 miles away.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Harvard sues Trump over frozen grant moneySpeed Read The Trump administration withheld $2.2 billion in federal grants and contracts after Harvard rejected its demands
-
Trump tariffs place trucking industry in the crosshairsIN THE SPOTLIGHT As the White House barrels ahead with its massive tariff project, American truckers are feeling the heat from a global trade war
-
Trump stands by Hegseth amid ouster reportsSpeed Read The president dismissed reports that he was on the verge of firing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over a second national security breach
-
Israel blames 'failures' for killing of medicsspeed read 14 Gaza medics and 1 U.N. employee were killed by IDF special forces
-
Why Russia removed the Taliban's terrorist designationThe Explainer Russia had designated the Taliban as a terrorist group over 20 years ago
-
China accuses NSA of Winter Games cyberattacksspeed read China alleges that the U.S. National Security Agency launched cyberattacks during the Asian Winter Games in February
-
Russian strike kills dozens in UkraineSpeed Read The Sumy ballistic missile strike was Russia's deadliest attack on civilians this year
-
Inside the Israel-Turkey geopolitical dance across SyriaTHE EXPLAINER As Syria struggles in the wake of the Assad regime's collapse, its neighbors are carefully coordinating to avoid potential military confrontations
-
South Korea court removes impeached presidentSpeed Read The Constitutional Court upheld the impeachment of Yoon Suk Yeol after his declaration of martial law in December
-
Myanmar quake deaths rise as survivor search intensifiesspeed read The magnitude-7.7 earthquake in central Myanmar has killed a documented 2,000 people so far, and left scores more trapped beneath rubble
-
'Like a sound from hell': Serbia and sonic weaponsThe Explainer Half a million people sign petition alleging Serbian police used an illegal 'sound cannon' to disrupt anti-government protests
