Robots won’t kill you, but fellow humans might

Nick Denys
Aug 22, 2017 · 3 min read

Bong. Welcome to the silly Summer News Season. Bong. This is the time of year when stories that wouldn’t normally get a hearing can make the front pages. Bong. Terminator Killer Robots are almost here. Bong.

100 Tech leaders, including Elon Musk and Mustafa Suleyman, have sent a letter to the UN stating that “(Robots) can be weapons of terror, weapons that despots and terrorists use against innocent populations, and weapons hacked to behave in undesirable ways.”

On the face of it the letter is alarming but uncontroversial. We can all agree that killer robots are bad and, whether hacked or not, will behave in undesirable ways. But if you give the letter a bit more consideration you quickly realise that it misses the most important factor in war and terror — human decision making.

Evil acts of terrorism have happened, are happening and will happen in the future, irrespective of whether killer robots happen. Despots and terrorists are already very effective at slaughtering defenceless people and causing psychological damage to innocent populations. In the 13th Century the Mongols would destroy combative cities, knowing that the tales of destruction would intimidate other places into surrendering quickly. Child soldiers were used in the Democratic Republic of Congo to ravage villages that stood in the way of victory. The camel riding Janjaweed militia terrorised the independence seeking population of Darfur in Sudan, indiscriminately killing 300,000 people in three years. Put into historical context killer robots are a mere detail of war.

Technology will always be used to improve the machinery of war. The chroniclers of conquerors always exult the courage and skill of the victors. They also mythologies the technological advances that gave their warriors that important edge. Henry V had his long-bow, General Custer had his rifle and President Truman had his atomic bomb. As long as humans want to fight they will first and foremost want to win. To increase their chances of winning they will want the best weapons possible. Nothing will change this.

Some of the most positive technological advances have also helped create today’s terrorism. It is impossible to know the totality of how new technologies will be used. Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, Youtube — they have all helped bring people together. So much information can be shared across the world. Like minded people can connect and collaborate as never before. But what is true for scientists, Beliebers, and flash mobbers is also true for neo-Nazis and Islamists. The biggest terrorist threat to Western populations comes from the ease with which undesirable groups can use everyday technology to organise and spread their influence as randomly as a dandelion sheds its seeds. Islamic State cannot afford to buy drones, but they can use social media to teach the angry, the dispossessed and the mentally ill how to weaponise aspects of everyday life — like cars and kitchen knives.

Technology companies often have free spirit, which disrupts governance and regulatory structures. There is nothing wrong with asking the UN to look into a matter, but unless there is governance system that can decide and enforce standards any investigation will be an academic exercise.

My challenge to those Tech leaders who signed the killer robots letter is to answer the question: “How should advances in technology be governed and regulated, both globally and locally?” If they can’t answer this then the letter will very quickly become obsolete.

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Nick Denys

Written by

I’m a policy person. Does stuff for Law Society, Tory Workers and others. I’m interested in the space where tech and humanity meets. All views are mine.

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