A viral video of a drone firing a handgun apparently has some of the most recognizable, powerful figures in the tech industry urging the utmost caution in developing automated weapons.
The Future Of Life Institute (FLI) released an open letter and a document detailing artificial intelligence (AI) research priorities co-signed by Elon Musk, Stephen Hawking, Steve Wozniack, and many more addressing the coming "military artificial intelligence arms race."
According to the Guardian, the letter has more than 1,000 signatories, but was introduced at the International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Among the highest-billed co-signers of the letter are officials at companies, organizations, and institutions such as DeepMind, Google, Facebook, IBM, Harvard University, MIT, and more.
The drone in the viral video is apparently homemade and it is clearly seen holding a firing a handgun. As the Verge pointed out, it is completely illegal, but still highly concerning.
"As capabilities in these areas and others cross the threshold from laboratory research to economically valuable technologies, a virtuous cycle takes hold whereby even small improvements in performance are worth large sums of money, prompting greater investments in research. There is now a broad consensus that AI research is progressing steadily, and that its impact on society is likely to increase," the letter states. "The potential benefits are huge, since everything that civilization has to offer is a product of human intelligence; we cannot predict what we might achieve when this intelligence is magnified by the tools AI may provide, but the eradication of disease and poverty are not unfathomable. Because of the great potential of AI, it is important to research how to reap its benefits while avoiding potential pitfalls."
