Killer robots, experts: The UN must stop them

Leading researchers from these countries urged prime ministers Malcolm Thurbul and Justin Trudeau to take a stand against autonomous weapons, saying their development and use cross a clear moral limit.

Artificial intelligence can be used to create weapons operating without human supervision, giving them the ability to wander in certain areas and to make decisions for life or death without the approval of a military controller.

Letters applying for the governments of Canada and Australia were signed by hundreds of specialists, including Geoffrey Hinton, an artificial intelligence pioneer who works for Google and Ian Kerr, professor of ethics, law and technology in Otawa.

Experts say the race to build killer robots will bring the third revolution to war-making, after gunpowder and nuclear weapons.

They say that armies of robots are the perfect means to suppress the civilian population, and unlike humans, they do not have to be persuaded to commit atrocities, just to program.

Weapons manufacturers have been starting the race for the new market for years and have built many autonomous weapons prototypes, such as robot guards, autonomous tanks and fears that can detect and attack a target without being commanded by anyone.

Experts demand that the UN intervene and stop this race of weapons that, according to them, may bring an end to the human race as we know it.