In this 25 minute interview with Roger Kinkade and Rob Breakenridge of Newstalk770, CHQR Radio, I talk at length about autonomous weapons and the AI community’s call to ban “killer robots”. We talk about what a killer robot is, why they are likely to be developed, what the dangers are if we don’t ban them and a number of broader issues regarding the future of artificial intelligence.
Canada AM Interview On The Call To Ban Killer Robots
“Will the growth of killer robots set off a global arms race?”, CTV, Tuesday August 4, 2015
In this 5 minute interview with Canada AM host, Beverly Thompson, we discuss the the difference between semi-autonomous and autonomous weapons, the call to ban killer robots, why I am a signatory to the open letter, and why efficacy is not the only consideration in deciding whether to ban a dangerous use of technology.
Keep Killer Robots Fictional
This editorial first appeared in the Ottawa Citizen on April 26, 2016. The published version can be read here.
Given the perceived military success of unmanned drones and other semi-autonomous weapons, many proponents of robotic warfare are pushing for the next phase of development: fully autonomous weapons. Once developed and deployed, these weapons — killer robots, as they have become known — would be able to select their own targets and fire on them, without human intervention.
Read more“Delegation, Relinquishment And Responsibility: The Prospect Of Expert Robots”
"Delegation, Relinquishment and Responsibility: The Prospect of Expert Robots" draft in progress.
The article was written in collaboration with my favorite philosopher-engineer-guitarist and all around renaissance dude, Jason Millar.
Read more“The Strange Return Of Gyges’ Ring”
"The Strange Return of Gyges' Ring" in Lessons From The Identity Trail: Anonymity, Privacy and Identity in a Networked Society (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009)
Book II of Plato’s Republic tells the story of a Lydian shepherd who stumbles upon the ancient Ring of Gyges that has the power to make him invisible. In the story, the shepherd uses the ring to gain secret access to the castle where he kills the king and overthrows the kingdom. Plato uses this story to pose the classic philosophical question: why be moral if one can act with impunity?
Read moreThe Internet Of People? Reflections On The Future Regulation Of Human-Implantable Radio Frequency Identification
"The Internet Of People? Reflections on the Future Regulation of Human-Implantable Radio Frequency Identification" in Privacy, Identity, and Anonymity: Lessons from the Identity Trail, eds. Ian Kerr, Valerie Steeves and Carole Lucock (Oxford University Press, in press 2009)
In 2004, twenty-five global law students and I listened to the proprietor of the Baja Beach Club in Barcelona pitch the idea of getting implanted with an RFID tag to allow easy access to the VIP lounge of the club and to act as an easy payment system for booze at the bar. Would my students seriously consider getting chipped?
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