Now, while we didn’t ban chemistry, we did ban chemical weapons. And even if chemical weapons are occasionally used, it’s hard to argue that the world would be a better place if arms companies could sell chemical weapon. Or if evil despots could launch chemical attacks on their populations without fear of censure. Or a distant date in a court in the Hague.
And that’s precisely how we are going to prevent a future full of killer robots. We agree that it is morally unacceptable to let machines make life or death decisions. We insist there is always a human in the loop. Just like we decided it was morally unacceptable to use chemical weapons.
The rest follows from there. Arms companies don’t manufacture autonomous weapons. There are a lot of more profitable activities that won’t get them put on some UN blacklist. As a result, its not easy to get your hands on autonomous weapons. And people hesitate before using them.
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