Allowing machines to select and target humans sounds like something out of an apocalyptic sci-fi movie. But as we enter another decade, it is becoming increasingly obvious that we're teetering on the edge of that dangerous threshold. Countries including China, Israel, South Korea, Russia and the United States are already developing and deploying precursors to fully autonomous weapons, such as armed drones that are piloted remotely. These countries are investing heavily in military applications of artificial intelligence with the goal of gaining a technological advantage in next-generation preparedness for the battlefield. These killer robots, once activated, would select and engage targets without further human intervention.

A scientific coalition is urging a ban on the development of weapons governed by artificial intelligence. A scientific coalition is urging a ban on the development of weapons governed by artificial intelligence (AI), warning they may malfunction unpredictably and kill innocent people. The coalition has established the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots to lobby for an international accord. Said Human Rights Watch's Mary Wareham, autonomous weapons "are beginning to creep in. Drones are the obvious example, but there are also military aircraft that take off, fly, and land on their own; robotic sentries that can identify movement."

A group of scientists has called for a ban on the development of weapons controlled by artificial intelligence (AI). It says that autonomous weapons may malfunction in unpredictable ways and kill innocent people. Ethics experts also argue that it is a moral step too far for AI systems to kill without any human intervention. The comments were made at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Washington DC. Human Rights Watch (HRW) is one of the 89 non-governmental organisations from 50 countries that have formed the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, to press for an international treaty.

Two open letters have been sent by Artificial Intelligence experts to the Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, which was signed by 122 AI researchers, and to the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, which had 216 signatures on it.

Elon Musk and more than 100 leaders and experts in artificial intelligence (AI) have come together urging the UN to commit to an outright ban on killer robot technology. An open letter signed by Musk, Google Deepmind's Mustafa Suleyman, and 114 other AI and robotics specialists urges the UN to prevent "the third revolution in warfare" by banning the development of all lethal autonomous weapon systems. The open letter, released to coincide with the world's largest conference on AI – IJCAI 2017, which is taking place in Melbourne, Australia this week – warns of a near future where independent machines will be able to choose and engage their own targets, including innocent humans in addition to enemy combatants. "Once developed, they will permit armed conflict to be fought at a scale greater than ever, and at timescales faster than humans can comprehend," the consortium writes. "These can be weapons of terror, weapons that despots and terrorists use against innocent populations, and weapons hacked to behave in undesirable ways."

Tesla and SpaceX chief Elon Musk has joined dozens of CEOs of artificial intelligence companies in signing an open letter urging the United Nations to ban the use of AI in weapons before the technology gets out of hand. The letter was published Monday -- the same day the U.N.'s Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems was due to meet to discuss ways to protect civilians from the misuse of automated weapons. That meeting, however, has been postponed until November. "Lethal autonomous weapons threaten to become the third revolution in warfare," read the letter, which was also signed by the chief executives of companies such as Cafe X Technologies (which built the autonomous barista) and PlusOne Robotics (whose robots automate manual labor). "Once this Pandora's box is opened, it will be hard to close. Therefore we implore the High Contracting Parties to find a way to protect us all from these dangers."

This file photo taken on July 19, 2017 shows Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, during the International Space Station Research and Development Conference at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC. US entrepreneur Elon Musk said on July 20, 2017 he'd received tentative approval from the government to build a conceptual "hyperloop" system that would blast passenger pods down vacuum-sealed tubes from New York to Washington at near supersonic speeds. Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world." A group of technology experts including Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is warning the United Nations about the potential threat posed by autonomous weapons. In an open letter addressed to the U.N.'s Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, 116 founders and CEOs of robotics and artificial intelligence companies want the "killer robot" weapons banned. "These can be weapons of terror, weapons that despots and terrorists use against innocent populations, and weapons hacked to behave in undesirable ways," reads a portion of the letter. "We do not have long to act.