Scientists, tech experts warn about AI arms race dangersJuly 28, 2015 - 14:40 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - More than 1,000 tech experts, scientists and researchers have written a letter warning about the dangers of autonomous weapons, BBC News reports. In the latest outcry over "killer robots", the letter warns that "a military AI [artificial intelligence] arms race is a bad idea". Among the signatories are scientist Stephen Hawking, entrepreneur Elon Musk and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak. The letter will be presented at an international AI conference Tuesday, July 28. "Killer robots" are currently the subject of much debate and have recently been discussed by committees at the United Nations, which is considering the potential for a ban on certain types of autonomous weapons. Now, the experts have called for a specific ban on the use of artificial intelligence to manage weapons that would be "beyond meaningful human control". "Just as most chemists and biologists have no interest in building chemical or biological weapons, most AI researchers have no interest in building AI weapons - and do not want others to tarnish their field by doing so," they add. MIT professor Noam Chomsky, Google AI chief Demis Hassabis, and consciousness expert Daniel Dennett are among others to have endorsed the letter. The text, which has been published online by the Future of Life Institute (FLI), will be presented to delegates of the International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Buenos Aires. Prof Hawking, a signatory to the letter, is currently taking part in an Ask Me Anything (AMA) session on Reddit, in which he is collecting questions about "making the future of technology more human". He will respond to selected questions throughout the week, but has not yet posted his first reply. In December, in an interview with the BBC, the professor raised his concern that AI could spell the end of mankind. "Humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldn't compete [with artificial intelligence], and would be superseded," he said. But Eric Horvitz - a Microsoft Research chief who signed the autonomous weapons letter - has posted a video online in defence of other AI research. "You look at how much computation has done for our society, for socio-economics, in applications like healthcare - it's been incredible. AI will change so many things," he said. "With that comes a lot of hope, a lot of possible benefits and also some concerns. I think there are very interesting questions that need to be solved along the way, but I expect largely positive beneficial results coming out of this research largely because we guide it." Top stories Yerevan will host the 2024 edition of the World Congress On Information Technology (WCIT). Rustam Badasyan said due to the lack of such regulation, the state budget is deprived of VAT revenues. Krisp’s smart noise suppression tech silences ambient sounds and isolates your voice for calls. Gurgen Khachatryan claimed that the "illegalities have been taking place in 2020." Partner news Most popular in the section | Scholz hopes Armenia-Azerbaijan peace treaty will be signed this year German Chancellor Olaf Scholz hopes that a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan will be signed this year. Armenia, Russia discuss life extension of Metsamor nuclear plant Issues regarding the extension of life of the 2nd power unit of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant were discussed in Yerevan. Armenians stage more campaigns against territorial concessions to Azerbaijan Protesters blocked more roads across Armenia on Friday, April 26 in continuing attempts to scuttle territorial concessions to Azerbaijan. Czech-Armenian military cooperation discussed in Yerevan A delegation led by the Director General for the Industrial Cooperation Division of the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic visited Armenia. |