Will robots be more ethical on the battlefield than humans?

Posted by ljmacphee on December 2, 2008 under artificial intelligence in the news |

When troops get stressed bad decisions can be made. If you have a programmed bot, it is not subject to stress and will follow the rules we give it. Much controversy is beginning to take place in this subject.

In the heat of battle, their minds clouded by fear, anger or vengefulness, even the best-trained soldiers can act in ways that violate the Geneva Conventions or battlefield rules of engagement. Now some researchers suggest that robots could do better.

“My research hypothesis is that intelligent robots can behave more ethically in the battlefield than humans currently can,” said Ronald C. Arkin, a computer scientist at Georgia Tech, who is designing software for battlefield robots under contract with the Army. “That’s the case I make.”

Robot drones, mine detectors and sensing devices are already common on the battlefield but are controlled by humans. Many of the drones in Iraq and Afghanistan are operated from a command post in Nevada. Dr. Arkin is talking about true robots operating autonomously, on their own. . . read more

More information:
Governing Lethal Behavior: Embedding Ethics in a Hybrid Deliberative/Reactive Robot Architecture (pdf)
The Hastings Center, nonpartisan research into bioethics
Colin Allen home page
Ronald Arkin home page