Killer Robots – Social Robot Futures

War in the Age of Intelligent Machines

June 4, 2018September 16, 2021

This March, Saint Mary’s University played host to an engaging and heated debate on the use of autonomous weapons of war, as part of the Automaton! From Ovid to AI public lecture series. The debate, video of which is available at CBC News, was between acclaimed BBC commentator and activist Dr. Noel Sharkey, and Dalhousie philosophy professor Dr. Duncan MacIntosh. It was moderated by Dalhousie professor of philosophy Dr. Letitia Meynell.

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Academics Support Google Workers Against Company’s Military Project

May 15, 2018September 16, 2021

On March 6^th news broke that Google was participating in a pilot project with the US military, supplying artificial intelligence capabilities to automate the analysis of drone surveillance footage (see Gizmodo and New York Times). Since then, Google employees have signed a petition opposing their company’s involvement, twelve employees are “resigning in protest,” and “tech workers” in the broader industry have circulated their own petition.

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Public debate: War in the Age of Intelligent Machines

March 15, 2018September 6, 2021

Killer robots. Slaughterbots. Lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS). How are they changing international norms of warfare, peace and security? What does it mean for us? How concerned should we be? These questions are the subject of a debate between Dr. Noel Sharkey, Chair of the International Committee for Robot Arms Control, and Dr. Duncan MacIntosh, professor of philosophy at Dalhousie University.