WOULD you trust a robot with a gun? Roving robot sentries are now being deployed to guard nuclear installations and patrol borders. Some of them are armed with deadly weapons (see “Intruders beware: armed robots on patrol”). They look more like golf buggies than Robocop, but the principle is the same.
Their makers insist that they are safe, and a human is always on hand to take control remotely. But the next step, already under development, will be robots able to decide for themselves whether to “engage” a target.
Handing weapons to robots is asking for trouble. Robots may be mature enough to patrol autonomously, but they are far from ready to make life-or-death decisions. And then there are accidents to think about. Anyone who remembers the “20 seconds to comply” scene in Robocop will understand the dangers.
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