16 January, 2015
Prominent scientists and researchers from industry and academia have signed an open letter calling for artificial intelligence (AI) and smart machine research to focus on developing systems that are “robust and beneficial” to humanity. The letter links to a document outlining “research directions that can help maximize the societal benefit of AI” that includes a list of legal, ethical, and Read more...
12 October, 2019
The Silicon Valley Lead for the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots is Marta Kosmyna, based in San Francisco, USA. In her role, she seeks to energize the technology sector, elicit political support, and raise awareness and funds for the Campaign in the California Bay Area. Previously, she spent two and a half years as a Read more...
12 October, 2019
The Campaign Outreach Manager for the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots is Isabelle Jones, based out of Mines Action Canada in Ottawa, Canada. In her role, she manages efforts to expand and strengthen the Campaign’s network, and provides ongoing support through funding, resources, and coordination to build momentum and energize the coalition. Isabelle holds a Read more...
11 October, 2019
26Nobel PeaceLaureatesNobel Peace Laureates have endorsed the call to ban killer robots through a 2014 open letter calling for a ban on killer robots and/or signing on to joint declarations issued by the World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates, most recently in Mérida on 22 September 2019.“We, the undersigned Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, applaud this Read more...
19 August, 2019
Forget what you’ve seen in the movies – rapid advancements in computer vision, machine learning, computing power, robotics and artificial intelligence are eagerly sought out by militaries around the world to automate kill-decisions. The inherent dual use of most of these technologies and heavy investments in the field demand new international law to prohibit fully Read more...
20 February, 2019
A provisional agreement reached on 20 February 2019 would prohibit the new European Defence Fund (EDF) from investing in the development of lethal autonomous weapons systems or killer robots. The partial political agreement now must be formally approved by the European Parliament and Council. The Campaign to Stop Killer Robots welcomes the agreement as an Read more...
22 January, 2019
Public opinion is in line with the Campaign’s call for action to prevent the development of killer robots. It’s time to negotiate a treaty to prohibit fully autonomous weapons. The survey of 26 countries was conducted in December 2018 by the market research company Ipsos and commissioned by the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots. It Read more...
14 January, 2019
A group of more than 4,000 anonymous Google employees has fittingly been named 2018 “Arms Control Person of the Year” for their role in helping the company to end a military contract that raised ethical and other concerns over the appropriate use of artificial intelligence and machine learning. The Campaign to Stop Killer Robots applauds Read more...
12 November, 2018
The Campaign to Stop Killer Robots welcomes the strong call to ban killer robots issued by United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres. On 11 November at the Paris Peace Forum marking the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, the Secretary-General said, “Imagine the consequences of an autonomous system that could, by itself, target Read more...
5 November, 2018
Prof. Dr. Asaro is vice-chair of the International Committee for Robot Arms Control (ICRAC) and a philosopher of technology who has worked in artificial intelligence, neural networks, natural language processing and robot vision research. Asaro is Associate Professor in the School of Media Studies at The New School in New York City and an affiliate Read more...
4 November, 2018
Mr. Goose is executive director of the Arms Division of Human Rights Watch and chair of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines and the Cluster Munition Coalition. Goose and Human Rights Watch were instrumental in bringing about the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions, the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, the 1995 CCW protocol banning blinding lasers, and the 2003 protocol Read more...
4 November, 2018
Ms. Abdul-Rahim is a Research/Advisor, in the Arms Control, Security Trade & Human Rights / and Artificial Intelligence & Human Rights teams at the International Secretariat of Amnesty International in London, where she works on various arms control issues, including fully autonomous weapons systems. Ms. Abdul-Rahim was centrally involved in the effort to secure the 2013 Read more...
4 November, 2018
Ms. Docherty is senior researcher in the Arms Division at Human Rights Watch and is also Associate Director of Armed Conflict and Civilian Protection and a Lecturer on Law at the International Human Rights Clinic of Harvard Law School. Docherty’s report Losing Humanity outlines how fully autonomous weapons could violate the laws of war and undermine fundamental Read more...
4 November, 2018
Mr. Khan is executive director of Sustainable Peace & Development Organization (SPADO), a Pakistani sustainable development organization. He is the South Asia representative of International Peace Bureau and has conducted research on small arms, landmines, and explosive remnants of war. Languages: Urdu, Pashto Read more...
16 August, 2018
The problem Fully autonomous weapons would decide who lives and dies, without further human intervention, which crosses a moral threshold. As machines, they would lack the inherently human characteristics such as compassion that are necessary to make complex ethical choices. The US, China, Israel, South Korea, Russia, and the UK are developing weapons systems with Read more...
7 August, 2018
The Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, is offering to support states to elaborate new measures such as “legally binding arrangements” to ensure that “humans remain at all times in control over the use of force.” The offer is contained in the UN head’s 74-pp disarmament agenda launched in Geneva on 24 May 2018, Read more...
16 May, 2018
Google and its parent company Alphabet are starting to address some ethical concerns raised by the development of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, but, as yet, have not taken a position on the unchecked use of autonomy and AI in weapon systems. These and other technology companies such as Amazon, Microsoft, and Oracle, should Read more...
5 March, 2018
In a letter to the Republic of Korea’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kang Kyung-Wha, the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots urged the government to support the call to ban fully autonomous weapons and address concerns raised by a new “Research Center for the Convergence of National Defense and Artificial Intelligence” opened by KAIST and defense manufacturer Hanwha Read more...
22 February, 2018
Concerns at the prospect of fully autonomous weapons featured prominently during the high-level Munich Security Conference in Germany this month. More than 600 politicians, business leaders, and officials attended the annual conference held at the Bayerischer Hof Hotel in the center of the city on 15-18 February. A public event on artificial intelligence and modern conflict Read more...
7 December, 2017
This round-up of recent actions at the national level supporting the call to preemptively ban fully autonomous weapons systems covers developments in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Holy See, Italy, Netherlands, UK and US in November-December 2017. Australia On 2 November 2017, more than 120 members of the Australian AI research community wrote to Prime Minister Read more...
2 November, 2017
More than 120 members of the Australian AI research community wrote to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to demand that Australia endorse the call to ban lethal autonomous weapons systems and work to conclude a new international agreement that achieves this objective. Read more...
12 October, 2017
For the fifth consecutive year in a row, states at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) First Committee on Disarmament and International Security in New York have expressed concern over fully autonomous weapons, also known as lethal autonomous weapons systems. More than 150 countries are participating in the month-long 72nd session of UNGA First Committee in addition to key UN Read more...
20 August, 2017
The Campaign to Stop Killer Robots urges governments to heed an open letter signed by 126 founders and directors of more than 100 robotics and artificial intelligence companies from 28 countries demanding urgent action to address fully autonomous weapons concerns. Read more...
23 April, 2017
During the first half of 2017, the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots has been stepping up its outreach at the national level to build support in key capitals for the call to ban development, production, and transfer of fully autonomous weapons. We are also engaging with diplomats from key countries at the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) Read more...
6 December, 2016
The Campaign to Stop Killer Robots is calling on all countries to participate in next week’s Fifth Review Conference of the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW). It invites states to join the group of 14 nations calling for a preemptive ban on weapons that would select and attack targets without further human intervention. On Friday, 12 December, Read more...
19 October, 2016
For the fourth consecutive year in a row, concerns over fully autonomous weapons have featured prominently at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) First Committee on Disarmament and International Security. More than 150 countries are participating in the month-long session at the UN in New York, which is open to registered non-governmental organizations (NGOs). On 12 October, the Campaign to Stop Killer Read more...
6 October, 2016
Russia’s reluctant position on supporting more formal efforts to address concerns over lethal autonomous weapons systems came under scrutiny at a conference in Moscow at the end of September. The Russian Federation views more formal discussions on the matter at the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) as “premature” and told an April 2016 meeting that it sees “divergent and conflicting positions” relating Read more...
2 September, 2016
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) & Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) hosted a workshop on autonomous systems and their societal impact. Read more...
19 March, 2016
The challenge of killer robots is firmly on the agenda in Norway, where the ethics council of the $830 billion Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global has announced it intends to begin monitoring companies investing in the potential development of fully autonomous weapons systems. Ethics council chair Johan H. Andresen said the aim is to see if such investments would be contrary to Read more...
22 January, 2016
Yesterday (21 January 2015), the World Economic Forum convened an hour-long panel discussion in cooperation with TIME to consider “what if robots go to war?” The session at the annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland featured four speakers: former UN disarmament chief Angela Kane, BAE Systems chair Sir Roger Carr, artificial intelligence (AI) expert Stuart Russell and robot ethics Read more...
18 December, 2015
For the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, the highlight of 2015 was the second meeting on lethal autonomous weapons systems held at the United Nations in Geneva in April. Representatives from more than 90 countries as well as UN agencies, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the campaign convened at the Convention on Conventional Weapons Read more...
27 October, 2015
More states have raised autonomous weapons concerns at the UN General Assembly First Committee on Disarmament and International Security this year than in the past two years, according to a Campaign to Stop Killer Robots review of statements from the 2015 session, which concludes on 9 November. More than 30 states and five groups of states have included autonomous weapons Read more...
8 October, 2015
The leadership of the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots will be in New York on 19-20 October to conduct outreach at the UN General Assembly’s annual First Committee on Disarmament and International Security, which opened on 8 October and is chaired by Ambassador Karel van Oostrom, permanent representative of the Netherlands to the UN in New York. Nations are Read more...
2 September, 2015
Peace Movement Aotearoa, co-founder and coordinator of the Aotearoa New Zealand Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, convened a forum in Wellington this week to consider, among other issues, the challenges posed by fully autonomous weapons and call for a preemptive ban. In recent weeks several New Zealanders or “Kiwis” have endorsed the call to ban these weapons that Read more...
5 August, 2015
Japan commemorates the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6th and 9th, respectively. These attacks killed approximately 140,000 people in Hiroshima and 70,000 in Nagasaki, mostly civilians. Ever since then, humankind has been forced to coexist with nuclear weapons. The fear of nuclear war will remain until nuclear weapons are prohibited and their stocks destroyed, Read more...
28 July, 2015
More than 3,000 artificial intelligence researchers, scientists, and related professionals have signed an open letter released in Buenos Aires on 28 July 2015 calling for a ban on autonomous weapons that select and engage targets without human intervention, thereby swelling the ranks of the rapidly growing global movement to address the weapons. The Campaign to Stop Killer Robots welcomes Read more...
28 July, 2015
More than 1,000 artificial intelligence and robotics researchers and 15,000 other endorsers signed an open letter calling for a ban on autonomous weapons. Read more...
18 June, 2015
After deliberating for two years on questions relating to “lethal autonomous weapons systems,” the time has come for states to commit to a more substantive process aimed at achieving an outcome that addresses the multiple concerns raised over the weapons. Nations are due to decide on 13 November 2015 if talks on this topic should continue next year at the Convention Read more...
14 April, 2015
A second round of multilateral talks on concerns over weapons systems that would select and attack targets without further human intervention opened on Monday morning at the United Nations (UN) in Geneva. The meeting of experts on “lethal autonomous weapons systems” is considering questions relating to the emerging technology of these weapons, but there is not yet a negotiating Read more...
30 March, 2015
The Campaign to Stop Killer Robots acknowledges the contributions made by Ms. Angela Kane of Germany, United Nations (UN) High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, in leading efforts to address the emerging issue of fully autonomous weapons systems. Read more...
15 March, 2015
The second multilateral meeting on “lethal autonomous weapons systems” by members of the 1980 Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) will be held at the United Nations (UN) Palais des Nations in Geneva on 13-17 April 2015. On Monday, 13 April, the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots will hold a side event briefing for all CCW Read more...
24 January, 2015
Concerns over fully autonomous weapons or “killer robots” have been raised at the 2015 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland with various publications and speakers addressing the matter. This is the first time that the annual meeting of world leaders from government, business, and civil society has considered the challenges posed by weapons systems that select targets Read more...
13 January, 2015
After the first conference held by the Future of Life Institute on the “future of artificial intelligence” in Puerto Rico on Jan. 2-4, prominent scientists and researchers from industry and academia issued an open letter calling for AI and smart machine research that is “robust and beneficial” to humanity, linking to a document outlining “research directions Read more...
23 December, 2014
The first-ever multilateral meeting held earlier this year on “lethal autonomous weapons systems” marked a key milestone for the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, while the consensus agreement by nations to hold another meeting at the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) on 13-17 April 2015 confirms the matter is now firmly on the international agenda and Read more...
6 October, 2014
Representatives from the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots will be in New York on 20-21 October to talk to government representatives and other United Nations (UN) delegates as well as media and the public about their concerns over fully autonomous weapons or “killer robots” and the need for government action. Read more...
30 September, 2014
Concerns over killer robots and armed drones were at the forefront of a “Night of Peace” or “De Nacht van de Vrede” event convened by Dutch non-governmental organization PAX in Amsterdam on 24 September, which featured talks by international speakers including a drone operator and roboticist. Read more...
13 August, 2014
ClearPath Robotics of Kitchener, Canada issued the following statement on 13 August 2014, pledging its support for the call for a preemptive ban on fully autonomous weapons. The company says it will continue to work with its military clients, but has “vouched to not manufacture weaponized robots that remove humans from the loop” as it “has chosen to value our Read more...
17 July, 2014
On Tuesday, 15 July, Representative Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) convened a “special briefing on killer robots” to discuss issues surrounding the development and use of fully autonomous lethal weapons. Roughly 65 people attended the briefing held in the Cannon House Office Building of the US Capitol from various Congressional offices as well as from the State Department Read more...
4 July, 2014
United Nations disarmament chief Angela Kane stated this week (2 July) that “there is a widespread view” that weapons systems that have the capability of selecting and attacking targets without human intervention “must be subject to meaningful human control.” The High Representative for Disarmament Affairs made her remarks on 2 July at a meeting of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Advisory Read more...
5 May, 2014
The first multilateral talks on killer robots open at the United Nations in Geneva (UN) at 10:00 on Tuesday, 13 May. Many of the 117 states party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) are expected to attend the four-day meeting of experts on “lethal autonomous weapons systems” in addition to representatives from international and UN agencies, Read more...
1 May, 2014
The Campaign to Stop Killer Robots and its concerns over the prospect of weapons systems that would be able to select and engage targets without meaningful human control features this week in a Newsweek Japan special edition on robotics. The issue comes as US President Barack Obama met with representatives from Japanese robotics companies and their robots during his visit to Japan Read more...
29 April, 2014
Members of the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots this week called on the government of Canada to support the creation of new international law to pre-emptive ban fully autonomous weapons or ‘killer robots’ as part of a new outreach effort by Mines Action Canada, a co-founder of the global Campaign to Stop Killer Robots. Mines Action Canada‘s Erin Hunt urged Read more...
14 March, 2014
The first Chatham House conference on autonomous military technologies in London on 24-25 February brought together individuals from different constituencies to contemplate autonomous weapons and the prospect of delegating human control over targeting and attack decisions to machines. The Campaign to Stop Killer Robots was pleased to be able to attend this well-organized and timely Read more...
8 March, 2014
In early March, members of the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots briefed United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s advisory board on disarmament matters on the emerging international concern over killer robots. The UN Secretary-General himself spoke about autonomous weapons systems at the board’s meeting on 7 March and encouraged its members to continue looking at what Read more...
27 February, 2014
The European Parliament has adopted a resolution on the use of armed drones that includes a call for a ban on killer robots. The resolution sponsored by the Greens/European Free Alliance group of Members of the European Parliament with cross-party support, passed by a vote of 534–49 at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on 27 February. The Read more...
18 February, 2014
On February 12, a much-anticipated remake of the 1987 film Robocop opened in movie theatres across the United States. Both the original and remake portray the transformation of a policeman in the future into a man-machine hybrid, but the remake also provides some compelling messages for emerging efforts to control fully autonomous weapons in the real Read more...
8 December, 2013
In his tenth report on the protection of civilians in armed conflict issued on 22 November 2013, United Nations Secretary-General has called for international action to address the concerns over fully autonomous weapons or ‘killer robots.’ The remarks are the latest in a string of statements that United Nations (UN) officials have made on the Read more...
25 November, 2013
Italy’s top political leadership has been briefed by Nobel Peace Laureate Jody Williams of the Nobel Women’s Initiative and Italian non-governmental organizations on the need for the government to support the call for a ban on fully autonomous weapons and play an active role in international efforts to address the weapons. The outreach in effect marks Read more...
30 October, 2013
The 2013 session of the United Nations General Assembly First Committee on Disarmament and International Security has seen a number of states speak for the first time about fully autonomous weapons, with many urging international talks. The Campaign to Stop Killer Robots addressed the First Committee for the first time on 29 October and called on states to Read more...
16 October, 2013
The International Committee for Robot Arms Control (ICRAC), a founder of the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, has issued a statement endorsed by more than 270 engineers, computing and artificial intelligence experts, roboticists, and professionals from related disciplines that calls for a ban on fully autonomous weapons. In the statement, 272 experts from 37 countries say that, “given Read more...
26 September, 2013
On 3 September 2013, France in cooperation with the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs held a seminar for interested governments and civil society on fully autonomous weapons systems. The 90-minute event was held in the grand Council Chamber at the UN Palais des Nations in Geneva, in the same room where the Conference on Read more...
20 September, 2013
Following significant outreach by non-governmental organizations, German politicians and officials are beginning to commit to the call to ban fully autonomous weapons, known as vollständig autonome waffen or kampfroboter. A poll of political parties participating in the 2013 federal election shows that Germany’s next government will likely engage actively on this issue in the years ahead, including Read more...
7 September, 2013
Interest in tackling fully autonomous weapons is growing in Norway with events in Oslo on 4 September, where campaigners outlined civil society concerns and called on the government and opposition parties to articulate their policy on banning the weapons. Read more...
17 June, 2013
Representatives from both sides of the House of Commons in the United Kingdom agree that fully autonomous weapons raise numerous concerns warranting further deliberation, including at the international level. The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Alistair Burt, however emphasized that the government does not support the call for a moratorium on these Read more...
28 May, 2013
On 30 May 2013 in Geneva, nations for the first time ever debated what to do about fully autonomous weapons at the United Nations Human Rights Council following the presentation of the report on ‘lethal autonomous robotic weapons’ by the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Read more...
26 April, 2013
This week saw the launch of the international Campaign to Stop Killer Robots in London with a series of events to brief activists, media, and parliamentarians. A conference for non-governmental organizations (NGOs), held at the Human Rights Action Centre on Monday, April 22, was attended by about 65 campaigners from 30 NGOs. The activists provided input and guidance on Read more...
27 March, 2013
This Bibliography contains a selection of recent publications on fully autonomous weapons sorted by reports and briefings, then articles and commentaries, and a list of video and audio recordings. See also statements by the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, which includes our reports, presentations and press releases. I. Reports and Briefings The State of AI, PAX, May 2019. This Read more...
