The Technology for Autonomous Weapons Exists. What Now?
December 24, 2024 at 04:30PMIn 2017, the Future of Life Institute, a nonprofit committed to “reducing extreme risks from transformative technologies,” produced a seven-minute video titled “Slaughterbots.” In the video, an autonomous drone—loaded with three grams of explosive material and small enough to fit in the palm of your hand—takes flight. Using facial-recognition software, the drone targets a mannequin and then dives toward it, colliding with a sound like a gunshot and leaving a small hole in its forehead. Though the video itself is a work of fiction, the technology, Sarah Scoles writes, “was already in the works . . . and there was no international treaty to deal with it.” Scoles traces the evolution of autonomous weapons and details the concerns—commercial, ethical, existential—already shaping a thriving industry.
The first potential use of a fully autonomous modern weapon was in Libya in 2020, when a drone may have self-directed to attack militia fighters, according to a United Nations report (though it is difficult to prove a human wasn’t in the loop somewhere). Since then, semi-autonomous weapons — with varying degrees of human involvement — have continued to appear on the battlefield: In Ukraine, autonomous drones are able to target people, although for the moment a human directs them to do so. In the ongoing conflict in Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces have reportedly used an AI-enabled data system called Lavender that chooses human targets based on behavioral patterns with “little human oversight,” according to an investigation by +972 Magazine and Local Call.
Much of the latest technological development is fueled by governments and companies eager to get ahead of the weapons race. That appears to be the case with a recent U.S. initiative called Replicator that aims to deploy thousands of small, inexpensive uncrewed vehicles: ships, aircraft, and anti-drone devices — potentially like those Fortem makes — by August 2025. “The technology is ready,” said Eric Pahon, spokesperson for the deputy secretary of defense, in an emailed comment.
from Longreads https://longreads.com/2024/12/24/the-technology-for-autonomous-weapons-exists-what-now/
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