ScienceDaily today reports of a keynote address given by Noel Sharkey, a professor at University of Sheffield's Department of Computer Science, to the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), in which he expressed his concerns that we are beginning to see the first steps toward an international robot arms race.

The robotics expert believes that robot weapons are currently being developed by powers worldwide and warns that it might not be long before robots become a standard terrorist weapon to replace the suicide bomber: "With the current prices of robot construction falling dramatically and the availability of ready-made components for the amateur market, it wouldn't require a lot of skill to make autonomous robot weapons."

ScienceDaily continues:

Over 4,000 robots are currently deployed on the ground in Iraq and by October 2006 unmanned aircraft had flown 400,000 flight hours. Currently there is always a human in the loop to decide on the use of lethal force. However, this is set to change with the U.S. giving priority to autonomous weapons — robots that will decide on where, when and who to kill.

Are these types of ethical concerns slowing down innovation? Yes and no.

According to New Scientist, an international ban might be in order for governments and robotics engineers to re-examine current plans.

In December 2007, the DOD published an "Unmanned systems roadmap" proposing to spend about $4 billion by 2010 on robotic weapons, a figure that will later rise to about $24 billion.

Meanwhile, when you actually behold some of the leading-edge robotics that are being created by the likes of the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), it's easy to see why there is so much upside to unmanned machines and robots.

DARPA has nearly finished work on the Crusher, a six-wheeled robot that rolls through ditches, walls, streams, other vehicles and almost anything else that gets in its way. With existing cameras put on there, the vehicle is able to see rabbits at long range and enemy troops from 4 kilometers [2-1/2 miles] away. Imagine sending this to an intersection and letting it sit there to monitor what's going on for days or weeks."

Sharkey is most concerned about the prospect of having robots decide for themselves when to "pull the trigger." Currently, a human is always involved in decisions of this nature. But New Scientist notes that "the Pentagon is nearly 2 years into a research program aimed at having robots identify potential threats without human help."

"The main problem is that these systems do not have the discriminative power to do that," he said, "and I don't know if they ever will."

However, Ronald Arkin, a robotics researcher at Georgia Tech University, counters this point by pointing out that human combatants are far from perfect on the battlefield. "With a robot I can be sure that a robot will never harbour [sic.] the intention to hurt a non-combatant," he says.

"Ultimately they will be able to perform better than humans," Arkin continued.

With a formidable machine like Crusher waiting in the wings, it doesn't look like innovation for unmanned devices is waning anytime soon. And that obviously means moral issues surrounding them will also continue to crop up. Will these concerns prevent the military and other organizations from innovating and inventing?

Earlier:

Not Your Father's GIs: Soldiers of the Future

Bots with Brains: Future Robotic Overlords?

Unmanned Vehicles Earning Their Stripes: Ground, Air, Sea

Resources

ScienceDaily

New Scientist

U.S. Department of Defense