March 01, 2015
The Foreign Policy Essay: The South Korean Sentry—A “Killer Robot” to Prevent War
A new sentry guards the demilitarized zone separating North and South Korea. It is South Korea’s SGR-A1, a robot with the ability to autonomously identify and destroy targets. This autonomous capability would make the SGR-A1 one of the “lethal autonomous weapon systems” targeted today by activists campaigning to “stop killer robots.” One of their principal fears is that such weapons will make conflict cheaper for states and therefore more likely to occur. But the SGR-A1 is a case in point for the opposite: it shows that in some situations, autonomous weapon systems can actually raise the threshold for aggression between states, thereby making war less likely to occur.
Read the full op-ed at Lawfare.
More from CNAS
-
Will WWIII Be Fought By Robots?
Video
What will autonomous weapons mean for how future wars are waged and the loss of human lives in armed conflicts? That's the topic of a new book, Army of None: Autonomous Weapon...
By Paul Scharre
-
A Million Mistakes a Second
Commentary
Militaries around the globe are racing to build ever more autonomous drones, missiles, and cyberweapons. Greater autonomy allows for faster reactions on the battlefield, an ad...
By Paul Scharre
-
Six arrested after Venezuelan president dodges apparent assassination attempt
Commentary
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was speaking at a military event when a drone carrying plastic explosives detonated on Saturday. CNAS Technology and National Security Dire...
By Paul Scharre
-
Army of None: Autonomous Weapons and the Future of War
What happens when a Predator drone has as much autonomy as a Google car? Or when a weapon that can hunt its own targets is hacked? Although it sounds like science fiction, the...
By Paul Scharre
