Researchers boycott Korean university over 'killer robot' AI weapons lab

Source: ZDnet

Researchers boycott Korean university over 'killer robot' AI weapons lab

Over 50 researchers from 30 countries will be boycotting all contact with South Korea's KAIST university once it opens an artificial intelligence weapons lab.

By Asha McLean April 5, 2018 -- 01:48 GMT (18:48 PDT)

The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) will soon open an artificial intelligence weapons lab in collaboration with Hanwha Systems, a defence company building cluster munitions, despite United Nations bans.

Ahead of a UN meeting in Geneva on April 9, slated to discuss the challenges posed by lethal autonomous weapons, over 50 AI and robotics researchers from 30 countries have declared that they will boycott all contact with KAIST once the "killer robot" lab opens.

The group of professors boycotting KAIST has written a letter to the South Korean university, saying they will no longer collaborate with KAIST until assurances have been provided that the centre will not develop autonomous weapons "lacking meaningful human control". ... "At a time when the United Nations is discussing how to contain the threat posed to international security by autonomous weapons, it is regrettable that a prestigious institution like KAIST looks to accelerate the arms race to develop such weapons," the letter reads.

"If developed, autonomous weapons will be the third revolution in warfare. They will permit war to be fought faster and at a scale greater than ever before. They have the potential to be weapons of terror. Despots and terrorists could use them against innocent populations, removing any ethical restraints.

Read more: https://www.zdnet.com/article/researchers-boycott-korean-university-over-killer-robot-ai-weapons-lab/