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The United States Department of Defense (DoD) designs, constructs, and deploys social and autonomous robots and robotic weapons systems. Military robots are designed to follow the rules and conduct of the professions or roles they emulate, and it is expected that ethical principles are applied and aligned with such roles. The application of these principles appear paramount during the COVID-19 global pandemic, wherein substitute technologies are crucial in carrying out duties as humans are more restrained due to safety restrictions. This article seeks to examine the ethical implications of the utilization of military robots. The research assesses ethical challenges faced by the United States DoD regarding the use of social and autonomous robots in the military. The authors provide a summary of the current status of these lethal autonomous and social military robots, ethical and moral issues related to their design and deployment, a discussion of policies, and the call for an international discourse on appropriate governance of such systems.
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Regulating Artificial Intelligence Proposal for a Global Solution
Given the ubiquity of artificial intelligence (AI) in modern societies, it is clear that individuals, corporations, and countries will be grappling with the legal and ethical issues of its use. As global problems require global solutions, we propose the establishment of an international AI regulatory agency that — drawing on interdisciplinary expertise — could create a unified framework for the regulation of AI technologies and inform the development of AI policies around the world. We urge that such an organization be developed with all deliberate haste, as issues such as cryptocurrencies, personalized political ad hacking, autonomous vehicles and autonomous weaponized agents, are already a reality, affecting international trade, politics, and war.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1646887
- PAR ID:
- 10066933
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- AAAI/ACM Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Ethics and Society
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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