At Secret Conference, Scientists Consider the Possible Rise of Autonomous Killer Robots
The long-awaited robot-led holocaust may happen any day now. That seems to be the finding of a secret conference of the world's top computer scientists, roboticists, and artificial intelligence researchers. The clandestine meeting focused on topics surrounding advancements in robotics and how they could quickly spiral out of human control. This includes the danger that robots could autonomously kill humans -- a danger than conference participants believe may already exist. The New York Times is the first to report on the secret conference, which was held in February and organized by Eric Horvitz, Microsoft researcher and president of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the increased integration of robots in everyday life, and the ethical concerns of their future development. "Technologists are replacing religion, and their ideas are resonating in some ways with the...