Ron Arkin and Noel Sharkey debate lethal autonomous weapons at UN

The Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) is currently underway at the United Nations in Geneva to discuss questions relating to emerging technologies in the area of lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS). The four-day meeting, which kicked of yesterday with a debate between Ron Arkin and Noel Sharkey, aims to cover the key issues surrounding the use of autonomous technology on the battlefield. 

While we haven’t been able to track down video of the UN debate, the opposing positions of Arkin and Sharkey can be found on our two-part Robots Podcast episode on robot ethics (Part One, Part Two). The following articles were also distributed by the UN in preparation for the debate:

• Arkin – Lethal Autonomous Systems and the Plight of the Non-combatant
• Sharkey – The evitability of autonomous robots warfare
• Sharkey – Towards a principle for the human supervisory control of robot weapons

The Campaign to Stop Killer Robots is holding daily side events at the CCW. For more information, see their agenda.

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•  Robots Podcast: Autonomous lethal weapons
•  How will robots shape the future of warfare?
•  Robots, soldiers and cyborgs: The future of warfare
•  Robohub focus: Robots and warfare

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Hallie Siegel robotics editor-at-large

Hallie Siegel robotics editor-at-large