Robots will be cheap and easy for terrorists to use and could replace suicide bombers
Boffin warns of terrorist robots
/v3-uk/news/1943538/boffin-warns-terrorist-robots
27 Feb 2008, Iain Thomson , V3
One of the UK's leading scientists has warned that terrorists will soon be using robots to attack their targets.
Professor Noel Sharkey, from Sheffield University's Department of Computer Science, told the Royal United Services Institute that robots will be cheap and easy for terrorists to use in combat situations and could replace suicide bombers.
"With the current prices of robot construction falling dramatically, and the [greater] availability of ready-made components for the amateur market, it would not require a lot of skill to make autonomous robot weapons," he said.
"Once the new weapons are out there, they will be fairly easy to copy. How long is it going to be before terrorists get in on the act?"
Professor Sharkey claimed that it would be possible to build an autonomous flying drone with GPS for around £250 that could be used to scout out targets.
Robots are already used extensively in military situations and there are currently over 4,000 robots deployed on the ground in Iraq. Remote drones are more established, and unmanned aircraft have already flown 400,000 flight hours.
Professor Sharkey acknowledged that current robot combat systems do not cause ethical problems because they are controlled by humans.
But he warned that autonomous armed systems would be unable to distinguish between valid targets and civilians given their current low levels of intelligence.
"Current robots are dumb machines with very limited sensing capability. What this means is that it is not possible to guarantee discrimination between combatants and innocents or a proportional use of force as required by the current Laws of War," he said.
"It seems clear that there is an urgent need for the international community to assess the risks of these new weapons now rather than after they have crept their way into common use."
The viability of home-made weapons has already been established. New Zealand inventor Bruce Simpson announced plans in 2003 to build his own cruise missile for $5,000. He intended to open source the plans and publish them on the internet.
Simpson was at the flight testing stage when the New Zealand government stepped in and squashed the project on security grounds and banned him from exporting the technology to the US.
"Although they have openly admitted that it is quite legal, I believe that it was causing them a good deal of embarrassment and that they may well have been under some pressure from at least one other country to shut it down," Simpson said on his website.
"Fortunately, the vast majority of the work has already been completed and the missile is ready to test."
Simpson claimed that he was approached by Iran about a deal to license his engine but that he did not respond.
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Do you agree?
It's only a matter of time
I am pleased to see the spectre of low-cost DIY hi-tech weapons being raised again, albeit five years after I built my cruise missile.
Since 2003 I have become deeply involved in the design and development of UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) and subsequent testing of the subsystems similar to those used in the DIY cruise missile give me a very high level of confidence that (if I were legally allowed to) the missile itself would perform exactly as designed.
While I can't see cyborgs with bomb-laden backpacks walking through any of our streets during my lifetime, I do think it's important we don't forget that technology can be used for both good and bad with equal ease.
I think/hope that to this day, I remain the only private individual to possess his very own cruise missile.
Posted by Bruce Simpson, 28 Feb 2008
Boffin warns of terrorist robots...
Member of the sane public warns paranoid boffin of fictitious fear mongering.
Posted by Andrew, 28 Feb 2008
Well.....
With advancement in technology comes problems and with problems come terrorists.
I think people need to leanr to compromise with what they ahev and try to live a happly life and let live a happy life. People need proper education in the world and need to learn their moral values. They also need to learn to distinguish between what is right and wrong.
Posted by Hibba, 28 Feb 2008
there goes the planet
where is Optimus Prime and the autobots when you need them?
Posted by Stew, 28 Feb 2008
Killer Robots and other weapons
Evil. the Israelis have killer unmanned robots at the security fenc. The Anmericans deploy them for area denial.
Easynto build any weapon with any sensor or trigger eg mines, pir, They are evil. People should not design AUTOMATIC KILLING MACHINES.Deploying these things and then assuming high moral ground is crazy
Posted by willi hudso, 28 Feb 2008
We have the nuke, you don't!
There is only 1 nation who dropped a nuke on another nation. That nation who dropped the nuke are hold many, many more - yet don't want other nations to have any nukes at all...
makes u think
Posted by know-it-all, 29 Feb 2008
Is this similar to the dirty bomb threat...
This seems to be even more over-rated than the dirty bomb threat that keeps popping up every so many months. Since the fall of the USSR there have been numerous nuclear weapons kicking around (at one point Greenpeace even tried to buy one to prove how easy it was for terrorists to get their hands on them). Surely this is more of a larger problem than worrying about terrorists using their pet AIBO's to build automated suicide robo-dogs!
Posted by Darren, 29 Feb 2008
Robot wars!
Well people have been building remote controlled and semi autonomous robots for the purpose of destruction for years to take part in televised battles.
I think Mr Sharkey was a judge on the show!
Posted by Peter E, 28 Feb 2008
Flawed logic
Will terrorist robots be hoping for martyr status and receipt of 7 virgins in heaven?
Will terrorist robots be blowing themselves up in order to escape persecution and conviction?
I don't see them replacing suicide bombers, somehow.
Posted by Sean, 27 Feb 2008