Killer robots are almost a reality and need to be banned, warns leading AI scientist

The technology to create killer robots is already here and needs to be banned, a leading artificial intelligence scientist has warned. Stuart Russell, a professor of computer science at Berkeley University, California, said "allowing machines to choose to kill humans" would be "devastating" for world peace and security. The professor, who has worked in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) for more than 35 years, also warned that the window to ban lethal robots was "closing fast". His warning comes as campaigners are making the case at the United Nations (UN) this week for a global prohibition on lethal autonomous weapons systems. Yesterday the pressure group, the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, showed a short film it produced to a meeting of countries participating in the Convention on Conventional Weapons, which painted a dystopian scenario based on existing technologies.