We can't ban killer robots – it's already too late Philip Ball

One response to the call by experts in robotics and artificial intelligence for an ban on "killer robots" ("lethal autonomous weapons systems" or Laws in the language of international treaties) is to say: shouldn't you have thought about that sooner? Figures such as Tesla's CEO, Elon Musk, are among the 116 specialists calling for the ban. "We do not have long to act," they say. "Once this Pandora's box is opened, it will be hard to close." But such systems are arguably already here, such as the "unmanned combat air vehicle" Taranis developed by BAE and others, or the autonomous SGR-A1 sentry gun made by Samsung and deployed along the South Korean border.