Stop Autonomous Weapons

Stop Autonomous Weapons is a YouTube channel known for “Slaughterbots,” a viral short film about autonomous weapons.
==Slaughterbots==
===Plot===
Slaughterbots is set in a society where small drones, fitted with facial-recognition technology and explosives, are programmed to kill individuals or classes of individuals.
The CEO of “StratoEnergetics” demonstrates his company’s newest product, a drone equipped with face recognition technology, evasive capabilities, and an explosive, to a live audience. The drone destroys the skull of a mannequin. The next scenes show news reports of automated mass murders. Twelve attacks are carried out against universities, killing 8,300 students. The culprit is not found.
===Production===
The original script was written by Stuart Russell, a computer science professor at the and was funded by the (FLI). The creators considered including an attack on a city, as part of a military campaign by a state, but decided that “appearing to accuse any particular nation of future war crimes would not be conducive to diplomacy.”
The video aims to explain the risks of autonomous weapons, and clarify their potential to “turn into weapons of mass destruction automatically.” Stuart believes that the technology is already feasible.
Slaughterbots was filmed on location in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was chosen as a “film friendly city” that would be recognised by an American audience.
The “slaughterbot” at the beginning of the video was computer generated.
===Release===
Slaughterbots, was uploaded on November 12, 2017.
It was screened at the United Nations Convention on Conventional Weapons in Geneva, Switzerland, in November 2017. Stuart also spoke at the conference.
===Analysis===
A team in Switzerland recreated a scene using a gelatine-filled sphere, simulating a skull, and three grams of explosive charge. They concluded that the chances of surviving a similar injury would be very low.
A contributor to , who is an expert in military affairs, said that terrorists could use the technology, but that the video was “a piece of propaganda,” which exaggerated the risks, and ignored potential countermeasures. It was accused of failing to be “a substantive analysis of the issue.”
Another contributor responded that autonomous weapons are a serious threat, which could become weapons of mass destruction. Their article noted the lack of effective countermeasures.
==Slaughterbots - if human: kill()==
The sequel to Slaughterbots, if human: kill(), was uploaded by the Future of Life Institute on November 30, 2021. It opens with news reports from numerous attacks. Various reporters and military officials defend the use of Slaughterbots. Whilst a bot nearly kills a child due to a technical error, a treaty is signed to ban the bots.
==References==
Category:Film YouTubers
Category:Users who joined in 2017