Robots

Using 'killer robots' in war would breach international law, advocates say

Fully autonomous weapons would breach international law if used in a theater of war, advocates say, claiming there is a “moral imperative” to ban robots that are programmed to kill.

As the U.S., China and Russia push to become leaders in weapons powered by artificial intelligence, longstanding calls for a ban on killer robots, which experts fear could lead to all-out, highly destructive warfare, have grown.

A new report published by Human Rights Watch and Harvard Law School’s International Human Rights Clinic claims that such autonomous weapons would violate the Martens Clause—a provision of humanitarian law that's widely accepted worldwide.