A Moral Argument for Killer Robots: Why America’s Military Needs to Continue Development of Lethal AI
Seattle – Doomsday headlines warn that the age of “killer robots” is upon us, and that new military technologies based on artificial intelligence (AI) will lead to the annihilation of the human race.
In his new, short book The Case for Killer Robots: Why America’s Military Needs to Continue Development of Lethal AI (Discovery Institute Press 2020), artificial intelligence expert Robert J. Marks investigates the potential military use of lethal AI and examines the practical and ethical challenges.
Dr. Marks directs the Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence at Discovery Institute, and he is a Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Baylor University. Marks also heads up the Center’s daily news website, Mind Matters News and hosts the Mind Matters Podcast.
This short monograph is published in conjunction with the Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence and the Center is making if freely available as a digital book at the Mind Matters website. Physical copies are available through Amazon.com.
“Marks makes a lucid and compelling case that we have a moral obligation to develop lethal AI,” said Jay Richards, philosopher and author, The Human Advantage: The Future of American Work in an Age of Smart Machines. “He also reminds us that moral questions apply, not to the tools that we use to protect ourself, but to how we use them when war becomes a necessity.”
Marks provocatively argues that the development of lethal AI is not only appropriate in today’s society — it is unavoidable if America wants to survive and thrive into the future.
“I am an outlier in the sense I believe that AI will never be creative nor have understanding,” said Marks. “Like fire & electricity, AI is neither good nor bad. Those writing AI code and using AI systems are solely responsible for the morality and the ethics of use.”
Discovery Institute Press is the imprint of the Discovery Institute, a non-profit, non-partisan, public policy think-tank. Discovery Institute’s mission is to advance a culture of purpose, creativity and innovation.
For more information contact Discovery Institute at Discovery Institute at (206) 292-0401 x1070 or via e-mail at info@discovery.org.