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Tech Leaders Warn Of The Dangers Of Killer Robots

Technology giant Elon Musk has, once again, signed onto an open letter to the UN seeking a ban on autonomous weapons. He has been working with others in his field for years to draw international attention to the risk of an autonomous weapons race, and it appears we may be too late.

Tech Leaders Warn Of The Dangers Of Killer Robots
ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA - SEPTEMBER 29: Elon Musk during his presenation at the Tesla Powerpack Launch Event at Hornsdale Wind Farm on September 29, 2017 in Adelaide, Australia. Tesla will build the world's largest lithium ion battery after coming to an agreement with the South Australian government. The Powerpack project will be capable of an output of 100 megawatts (MW) of power at a time and the huge battery will be able to store 129 megawatt hours (MWh) of energy. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has promised to build the Powerpack in 100 days, or he will deliver it for free. (Photo by Mark Brake/Getty Images)

Elon Musk, of Telsa and SpaceX fame, is a man who recognizes no technological boundaries: his projects have included colonizing Mars, slowing climate change and revolutionizing transportation. But according to him, his most significant venture will be gaining international cooperation to ban a specific branch of artificial intelligence (AI), autonomous weapons—before it’s too late.

Open Letter to UN

Musk and Mustafa Suleyman, of Google’s parent company Alphabet, led a group of 116 AI and robotics experts from 26 nations in an open letter (the “2017 letter”) calling for the ban of lethal autonomous weapons, often called killer robots. This is the first time leaders in the AI and robotics industries have joined forces on this issue with researchers such as Stephen Hawking, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, and Noam Chomsky.

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