ANYONE who witnessed the sea of 888,246 ceramic poppies surrounding the
Tower of London could not fail to have been moved by their sheer number.
Figures like 888,246 – the number of British military fatalities in the
first world war – do not come easily to mind. They must be seen to be
grasped.
The industrial-scale slaughter of the first world war
is often blamed on a clash of 19th-century tactics and 20th-century
weapons, including tanks, aircraft, modern artillery and machine guns.
In the early 21st century, military tech
is going through a revolution for which the world is similarly
ill-prepared. Lethal autonomous weapons systems – robots capable of
targeting and killing people – are already here. For now, though, humans
make the kill decisions.
Discussions are under way at the UN to
discuss if and how such robots should be regulated. The talks are likely
to be fraught. Killer robots do have redeeming features. And because
they can replace human combatants, some argue they are a moral
imperative.
The risks, however, seem enormous. The
first world war is history now, but it should be a reminder of the
dangers of mass, uncontrolled experimentation with new killing machines.
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