The largest robot manufacturers announced the abandonment of armed robots

Some of the most important companies in the robotics industry have pledged not to arm their most advanced robots. However, the reality is that the commitment of these companies will probably not play much role in stopping the production of combat and armed robots.

In an open letter addressed to the entire robotics industry, the companies said adding weapons to remotely controlled or autonomous robots creates new risks and serious ethical challenges. The famous Boston Dynamic company and 5 other companies have signed this letter.

The letter comes amid concerns over the use of the new generation of robots by the military and law enforcement in recent years. In the meantime, we can mention the four-legged and two-legged robots, whose capabilities have received a lot of attention in recent years.

Boston Dynamics, which is owned by the Korean company Hyundai, has made a lot of noise due to the creation of the world’s most famous four-legged robot called Spot. According to published reports, the robots made by this company have been tested for use by the American and French police. Of course, in these two cases, armed robots were not used, but they were supposed to be used for surveillance and reconnaissance operations.

It should be noted that the progress of Boston Dynamics robots has been achieved to a large extent thanks to receiving huge sums from the US Army. Years ago, the US Army wanted to use various robots to transport military equipment, but due to the high noise of these robots, they abandoned their development, and Boston Dynamics focused on commercial sales.

A part of this open letter states: “We have no problem with the existing technologies that countries and government organizations use to defend themselves and uphold the laws.” According to the letter, the companies in question simply commit not to arm the robots, which means they have no problem with using them by the military and military units for tasks such as surveillance and reconnaissance.

Among the signatories of this letter, there is no mention of the famous company Ghost Robotics, which specifically focuses on selling robots to military and government organizations. Currently, the US Air Force and the Department of Homeland Security are testing robots made by Ghost Robotics. Some time ago, the CEO of this company announced that they do not limit the way customers use the company’s robots. Therefore, although the development of armed robots will be limited to some extent, but in general, these types of robots will be widely used in the near future.

Source: The Verge