The longer the war lasts, the more likely it becomes that drones will be used to identify, select and attack targets without help from humans, according to military analysts, combatants and artificial intelligence researchers.
That would mark a revolution in military technology as profound as the introduction of the machine gun. Ukraine already has semiautonomous attack drones and counter-drone weapons endowed with Al. Russia also claims to possess Al weaponry, though the claims are unproven. But there are no confirmed instances of a nation putting into combat robots that have killed entirely on their own.
Experts say it may be only a matter of time before either Russia or Ukraine, or both, deploy them.
"Many states are developing this technology, said Zachary Kallenborn, a George Mason University weapons innovation analyst. "Clearly, it's not all that difficult.
The sense of inevitability extends to activists, who have tried for years to ban killer drones but now believe they must settle for trying to restrict the weapons' offensive use.
Ukraine's digital transformation minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, agrees that fully autonomous killer drones are "a logical and inevitable next step" in weapons development. He said Ukraine has been doing "a lot of R&D in this direction."
"I think that the potential for this is great in the next six months," Fedorov told in a recent interview.
Ukrainian Lt. Col. Yaroslav Honchar, co-founder of the combat drone innovation nonprofit Aerorozvidka, said in a recent interview near the front that human war fighters simply cannot process information and make decisions as quickly as machines.
Ukrainian military leaders currently prohibit the use of fully independent lethal weapons, although that could change, he said.
This story is from the January 06, 2023 edition of AppleMagazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the January 06, 2023 edition of AppleMagazine.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Browsing in Incognito Mode Doesn't Protect You as Much as You Might Think
Although a private browsing mode known as “Incognito” in Google’s widely used Chrome browser has been available for nearly a decade, a legal settlement involving the way it works has cast new attention on this commonly available setting.
EUROPEAN UNION QUESTIONS TIKTOK ON NEW APP THAT PAYS USERS FOR WATCHING
European Union regulators said this week they're seeking details from TikTok on a new app from the video sharing platform that pays users to watch videos.
UBER AND LYFT DELAY THEIR PLANS TO LEAVE MINNEAPOLIS AFTER OFFICIALS PUSH BACK DRIVER PAY PLAN
The ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft said they will delay their planned exit from Minneapolis after city officials decided to push back the start of a driver pay raise by two months.
FACED WITH POSSIBLY PAYING FOR NEWS, GOOGLE REMOVES LINKS TO CALIFORNIA NEWS SITES FOR SOME USERS
Google began removing California news websites from some people's search results, a test that acted as a threat should the state Legislature pass a law requiring the search giant to pay media companies for linking to their content.
NASA IS SEEKING A FASTER AND CHEAPER WAY TO BRING MARS SAMPLES TO EARTH
NASA's plan to bring samples from Mars back to Earth is on hold until there's a faster, cheaper way, space agency officials said.
TESLA TO ASK SHAREHOLDERS TO REINSTATE $55 BILLION PAY PACKAGE FOR MUSK REJECTED BY DELAWARE JUDGE
Tesla will ask shareholders to reinstate a compensation package for CEO Elon Musk potentially worth $55 billion that was rejected by a judge in Delaware this year and to move the electric car maker's corporate home from Delaware to Texas.
MASSACHUSETTS OFFICIAL WARNS AI SYSTEMS SUBJECT TO CONSUMER PROTECTION.ANTI-BIAS LAWS
Developers, suppliers, and users of artificial intelligence must comply with existing state consumer protection, anti-discrimination, and data privacy laws, the Massachusetts attorney general cautioned this week.
NISSAN SAYS IT WILL MAKE NEXT-GENERATION EV BATTERIES BY EARLY 2029
Nissan expects to mass produce electric vehicles powered by advanced next-generation batteries by early 2029, the company said this week during a media tour of an unfinished pilot plant.
BIDEN ADMINISTRATION AGREES TO PROVIDE $6.4 BILLION TO SAMSUNG FOR MAKING COMPUTER CHIPS IN TEXAS
The Biden administration has reached an agreement to provide up to $6.4 billion in direct funding for Samsung Electronics to develop a computer chip manufacturing and research cluster in Texas.
ONLY 26% OF AMERICANS SAY THEY GET AT LEAST EIGHT HOURS OF SLEEP, NEW GALLUP POLL SAYS
If you’re feeling — YAWN — sleepy or tired while you read this and wish you could get some more shut-eye, you’re not alone.