Human Rights Watch proposes new laws of robotics

uman Rights Watch (HRW) has issued a document titled Losing Humanity: The Case against Killer Robots that argues development of autonomous weapons must be stopped because it represents a threat to human rights.

The document defines three types of autonomous weapons, namely:

•     Human-in-the-Loop Weapons: Robots that can select targets and deliver force only with a human command;
•     Human-on-the-Loop Weapons: Robots that can select targets and deliver force under the oversight of a human operator who can override the robots’ actions; and
•     Human-out-of-the-Loop Weapons: Robots that are capable of selecting targets and delivering force without any human input or interaction.

Only the third type does not exist today, the document says, but adds they are in development and that “Many countries employ weapons defense systems that are programmed to respond automatically to threats from incoming munitions.”