The UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for a ban on “killer robots,” saying the decision to take life “must remain forever human.”
Fully autonomous weapons are already in use: Ukraine reportedly killed Russian soldiers with AI-powered drones as early as 2024. But they have sparked significant backlash, including from employees of US tech companies who have protested against working with the Pentagon.
Guterres called AI-controlled weapons “morally repugnant,” although not all ethicists agree: One roboticist argues they are more discriminate in their killing than scared human soldiers, while a philosopher said in 2022 that using robots will prevent young men and women bearing “the moral burden” of wars.
