Autonomous Weapons

http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/11/19/ban-killer-robots-it-s-too-late

Drones have become more advanced as they no longer need a person physically behind the weapon. The autonomous weapons are program to target and kill. I agree with the article that the “killer robots” must be stop. The machines are in control of whose lives are targeted on the battlefield. Rather than having human control behind the weapons, the weapons themselves select the target. Although these autonomous weapons eliminate the risk of soldiers dying in the battlefield, these drones increase the danger the civilians in the area. The introduction of these autonomous weapons would take away humanity from the battlefield thus increasing room for error in marking targets and increase civilian deaths. Such as stated in the article, there will be a loss of accountability when it comes to technical errors and breaches. The technical errors and breaches could lead to uncontrollable situations in which citizens are harmed and even killed. Unlike in situations where there is a human behind the weapon, in circumstances with killer robots there are many to blame, such as the manufacture or programmer, thus leading to a lack of accountability. Victims’ voices would be lost in the lack of accountability of the autonomous weapon errors. The perpetrators would easily by pass the law because there are so many different sources to blame for an innocent victim’s death.

These autonomous weapons take the humanity from behind the weapon, which in turn leaves citizens in danger of being targeted as enemies. Such as stated in the article, machines are now given the power over a person’s death. Any citizen in the wrong location, at the wrong time would be under the power of a machine that has no other purpose but to target and kill. This completely infringes on a person’s right to life. Although these weapons have not been released or in use, I agree that the production and use autonomous weapons must be stopped to prevent the loss of citizens’ right to life and future uncontrollable events as a result of technical errors or breaches.  These autonomous weapons illustrates how certain technological advancement violate human rights and take it too far from the control of humanity.