The Pentagon is continuing to move toward deploying AI-controlled lethal drones capable of making autonomous decisions about the use of force, The New York Times reported.
Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks said last summer that the U.S. military will prepare "field attritable, autonomous systems at scale of multiple thousands" over the next two years. She added that the U.S. must "leverage platforms that are small, smart, cheap and many" in order to remain competitive with China.
The U.S. has also issued various policy statements on the use of artificial intelligence and autonomous weaponry, one from the Pentagon and another from the State Department, which State Department Under Secretary Bonnie Denise Jenkins said "will enable nations to harness the potential benefits of A.I. systems in the military domain while encouraging steps that avoid irresponsible, destabilizing, and reckless behavior."
Although many Air Force generals have said publicly that a human operator will need to approve lethal action by AI-controlled drones during the initial stages of their use, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said in an interview that drones eventually will have to have the capability to make their own decisions, though humans will still decide if and when they are utilized.
"Individual decisions versus not doing individual decisions is the difference between winning and losing — and you're not going to lose," Kendall said, adding, "I don't think people we would be up against would do that, and it would give them a huge advantage if we put that limitation on ourselves."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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