Elon Musk Backs Campaign to Stop Killer Robots

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Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk is leading a group that is asking for the international ban of killer robots.

Elon Musk
Source: ©iStock.com/carloscastilla

Musk joined forces with 116 founders of robotics and AI companies who wrote a letter to the United Nations (UN), imploring the organization to ban the use of automated weapons. The UN recently voted to have formal discussions over the developments of automated drones, tanks and machine guns used for warfare.

“Lethal autonomous weapons threaten to become the third revolution in warfare. Once developed, they will permit armed conflict to be fought at a scale greater than ever, and at timescales faster than humans can comprehend,” Musk and co. warn in an open letter released Monday.

The letter states it’s the third such revolution in warfare after gunpowder and nuclear weapons. It adds that these weapons can be used by terrorists to destroy innocent populations, plus hackers would eventually find vulnerabilities in these weapons and mess around with them in less than favorable ways.

“We do not have long to act. Once this Pandora’s box is opened, it will be hard to close,” it says. Other automated weapons should be banned, the letter states, including chemical weapons and lasers that can blind people.

The group that backed the letter includes AI leaders from North America, Europe, Africa and Asia.

TSLA shares fell 2.8% Monday


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2017/08/elon-musk-campaign-stop-killer/.

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