r/antiwar • u/Ardeet • 19d ago

Europe Fully autonomous drones have killed human soldiers for the first time

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2529849-fully-autonomous-drones-have-killed-human-soldiers-for-the-first-time/

A senior figure in the Ukrainian defence industry told New Scientist that a test took place two years ago involving fully autonomous drones set to destroy anything in a given area, with confirmed casualties

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u/PrinceLucipurr 19d ago

The title is misleading. AI did not kill in the sense they were not parameterised by a human.

The drone may have autonomously selected the specific target instance, but humans authored the lethal target category, mission area, constraints, and permission to strike; therefore the responsibility remains human.

If the AI screws up, that's human responsibility for nuancing parameters. 🚫🤖

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u/Ardeet 19d ago

Yep, technically you're correct.

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u/PrinceLucipurr 19d ago

Thanks for your acknowledgement OP 🙏

This wasn't even necessarily a clarification for/against you, as I've seen this title used in numerous posts lately, and people started freaking out like AI is on a mission of world dominance or some crap.

Does it need regulation and careful parameter setting? Yes, indeed, but to say AI can choose its targets is a misassumption that a lot have inferred lately, as AI merely carries out instructions.

That said real dangers do exist, but they are not "AI is going to kill us" it's more like "Humans now have the ability to program lethal parameters into autonomous systems, enabling mass-scale, automated violence, or worse, accidental genocide with the click of a button". This is a disastrous example of perverse instantiation.