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| Photo courtesy Campaign to Stop Killer Robots |
A new poll says almost two-thirds of respondents in 26 countries are opposed to the use of lethal autonomous weapons (also known as killer robots).
In Canada, only 15 per cent support the use of killer robots while 60 per cent are opposed to their use and 25 per cent are undecided.
The Ottawa-based NGO, Mines Action Canada (MAC) wants to see the government do more.
“MAC would like to see the government of Canada be a leader in global efforts to preemptively ban autonomous weapons systems,” said Erin Hunt, program manager at MAC, in an email interview. “The government's current lack of a policy is disappointing.”
Ms. Hunt says there is broad support for a ban amongst Canada’s artificial intelligence and robotics communities.
MAC is calling on the government to develop a national policy prohibiting the use and development of autonomous weapon systems and take on a leadership role in international efforts to ban autonomous weapons in line with public opinion.
Around the globe, others are also calling for action.
“The window to prevent the development of fully autonomous weapons is closing fast,” said Mary Wareham, coordinator of the campaign to stop killer robots at Human Rights Watch.
“Governments should take note and listen to the voice of their people. Our shared security and humanity hinges on retaining meaningful human control over the use of force.”
Killer robots are different from drones in that they would be able to select and attack a target without human intervention.
Support for the use of killer robots is highest in India (50 per cent) and Israel (41 per cent).
Of those respondents who oppose the use of killer robots, 66 per cent say they think they cross a moral line because machines should not be allowed to kill.
Other reasons include: killer robots would be unaccountable, too expensive, subject to technical failures or illegal.
According to stopkillerrobots.org, the US, China, Israel, South Korea, Russia and the UK are developing weapons systems with significant autonomy in selecting and attacking targets.
The survey was commissioned by the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots and was conducted by market research company Ipsos in December 2018 across 26 countries: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the United States.
Global Affairs Canada did not respond to questions from Canadian Newsblog.