Elon Musk and Google DeepMind sign pledge against killer robots

Thousands of the top names in tech have come together to take a stand against the development of killer robots. Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who has long been outspoken about the dangers of AI, joined the founders of Google DeepMind, the XPrize Foundation, and over 2,500 individuals and companies in signing a pledge this week condemning lethal autonomous weapons. The industry experts vowed to'neither participate in nor support' the use of such weapons, arguing that'the decision to take a human life should never be delegated to a machine.' The move comes amid growing fears of AI systems that could target and kill a person without a human at the reins to make the final judgement call. 'There is an urgent opportunity and necessity for citizens, policymakers, and leaders to distinguish between acceptable and unacceptable uses of AI,' industry experts argue in the pledge, which was released on Wednesday at the 2018 International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Stockholm.