Military robots

The unmanned Small Multi-purpose Equipment Transport being demonstrated by the U.S. Army at Fort Irwin, California.Gif: U.S. Army video by Spc. Samarion HicksThe U.S. military has spent the past month running exercises at various locations in California to prepare for “future war-winning readiness.” And the photos being officially released include plenty of robot dogs, augmented reality headsets, resupply drones, and at least one mysterious AI-driven vehicle. There’s also an eight-wheeled, all-electric robot vehicle that…

Photo: Pfc. Rhita Daniel/U.S. Marine CorpsThe U.S. military is intensifying its commitment to the development and use of autonomous weapons, as confirmed by an update to a Department of Defense directive. The update, released Jan. 25, 2023, is the first in a decade to focus on artificial intelligence autonomous weapons. It follows a related implementation plan released by NATO on Oct. 13, 2022, that is aimed at preserving the alliance’s “technological edge” in what are sometimes called “killer robots.”Both announcements…

Photo: Sean Gallup (Getty Images)When delegates from 50 countries met in the Netherlands this week to discuss the future of military artificial intelligence, human rights activists and non-proliferation experts saw an opportunity. For years, rights groups have urged nations to restrict the development of AI weapons and sign a legally binding treaty to restrict the use of them over fears their unrestricted development could mirror last century’s nuclear arms race. Instead, the results of what could have been a historic…

Photo: U.S. Army Spc. Jaaron TolleyThe U.S. The Department of Defense has peeked into the future, and it sees a world rife with automated weapons of war. In its first update since 2012, DoD’s guidance overseeing the development, testing, and use of autonomous and semi-autonomous weapons warned of artificial intelligence’s “increasing role” in wars to come. More than a decade has passed since the Pentagon last updated its policy directive on these weapons, titled “Autonomy in Weapons Systems,” but that changed this week. …

A Hong Kong police officer controls a bomb disposal robot in a counter-terrorism exercise in 2020.Photo: Anthony Wallace / AFP (Getty Images)In the near future, police in San Francisco may be able to deploy robots armed with explosives and instruct them to kill a human being. On Tuesday, San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors voted 8-3 to approve a policy that would give the city’s police department permission to use remotely piloted robots to use lethal force in certain situations, specifically “when risk of loss of life…