Autonomous robots should be given the ability to kill.

Before I state my case, a big thank you to the Con for accepting! Good luck to you. ~Case~ I affirm: Autonomous robots should be given the ability to kill. I abide by the current definitions given. Contention 1: In warfare, the use of autonomous robots is more practical than human soldiers. Ronald C. Arkin of Georgia Institute of Technology published a paper titled "The Case of Ethical Autonomy for Unmanned Systems" (1). In his paper, he argues the following for the use of autonomous killer robots: "1. ...Autonomous armed robotic vehicles do not need to have self-preservation as a foremost drive, if at all. They can be used in a self-sacrificing manner if needed and appropriate without reservation by a commanding officer. There is no need for a "shoot first, ask-questions later" approach. 2. The eventual development and use of a broad range of robotic sensors better equipped for battlefield observations than humans currently possess" 3. Unmanned robotic systems can be designed without emotions that cloud their judgment or result in anger and frustration with ongoing battlefield events... 4. Avoidance of the human psychological problem of "scenario fulfillment" is possible... This phenomenon leads to distortion or neglect of contradictory information in stressful situations, where humans use new incoming information in ways that only fit their pre-existing belief patterns, a form of premature cognitive closure. Robots need not be vulnerable to such patterns of behavior. 5. They can integrate more information from more sources far faster before responding with lethal force than a human possibly could in real-time... 6. When working in a team of combined human soldiers and autonomous systems as an organic asset, they have the potential capability of independently and objectively monitoring ethical behavior in the battlefield by all parties and reporting infractions that might be observed. This presence alone might possibly lead to a reduction in human ethical infractions." Contention 2: Autonomous robots will be programmed with an agreeable set of morals. In 2012, Economist Magazine released an article detailing the "rules" of a robot's capabilities (2). The article states "...autonomous systems must keep detailed logs so that they can explain the reasoning behind their decisions when necessary... it may, for instance, rule out the use of artificial neural networks, decision-making systems that learn from example rather than obeying predefined rules. Second, where ethical systems are embedded into robots, the judgments they make need to be ones that seem right to most people. The techniques of experimental philosophy, which studies how people respond to ethical dilemmas, should be able to help. Last, and most important, more collaboration is required between engineers, ethicists, lawyers and policymakers... Both ethicists and engineers stand to benefit from working together: ethicists may gain a greater understanding of their field by trying to teach ethics to machines, and engineers need to reassure society that they are not taking any ethical short-cuts." Contention 3: Autonomous robots will not experience limitations that human soldiers do on the battlefield. Daniel. P Sukman of the National Defense University recently reviewed a new book by M. Shane Riza titled "Killing Without Heart" (3). Sukman notes "First and foremost is the absence of the empathy that will always reside in human beings. Robots lack that sense much as psychopaths do. They do not feel guilt or sympathy or any other emotion when taking a life... [Additionally, soldiers] do not return home after a deployment with post-traumatic stress disorder and beat their wives and children; they do not visit the payday loan shops and gentlemen"s clubs often found outside military installations. Financially, robots do not need TRICARE benefits, nor do they receive a pension after 20 years of service." ~Sources~ 1 - http://www.cc.gatech.edu... 2 - http://www.economist.com... 3 - http://ndupress.ndu.edu...