OPINION: Call to boycott military robots
According to Dr Robert Sparrow, a lot of robotics research is funded by military organisations, leading to the development of machines such as Talon SWORD (pictured). These robots keep soldiers out of harms way and make it easier for governments to start wars, argues Sparrow. Image: International Committee for Robot Arms Control Engineers should stop working on killer robots and kick the habit of military funding, a leading Australian applied ethicist has said. In a paper published in IEEE Technology and Society Magazine, Monash University philosopher Dr Robert Sparrow, called on engineers to boycott work on military robots such as the controversial ‘Predator’ drone from the United States. “It is clear that military organisations fund a significant amount of, and perhaps even most of, robotics research today,” Dr Sparrow said. “Recent technological progress, which has greatly increased the potential for robots to keep soldiers ‘out of harm’s way’ and the perceived success of the US’s...