Last year in Libya, autonomous drones targeted some human soldiers during the conflict. Even though the deaths are still unconfirmed at the moment, these "killer robots" could do more damage than we could have ever imagined. The experts have a warning that these automated flying machines could now be widespread.
How Weaponized Drones Affect The Global Warfare
Last March, the United Nations released a report addressed to what happened in Tripoli, New Scientist reported last week. While there is no official confirmation that a death has been recorded, it would be the first casualty made in the hands of the autonomous drone if that is true.
During the conflict, Khalifa Haftar of the Libyan National Army was caught up in a conflict with the government forces. The Kargu-2 attack quadcopter has reportedly attacked one of Haftar's men who tried to retreat from the battlefield.
According to the UN Security Council's Panel of Experts on Libya, the killer robots have been programmed to inflict damage to specific targets. They could be controlled without any data connectivity requirement.
Particularly, the lethal autonomous weapons systems work as an automatic operator that fires bullets. It relies on the approach of finding, locking down, and firing the target.
Moreover, the drone was also known to have the self-destructing capability. The panel said that when it collides with the target, it will leave a "highly effective" impact on the unarmed human. In addition, the "significant casualties" have been noted, as the Haftar-led army has been exposed to a series of aerial attacks.
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Turkey's Kargu-2 functions as a loitering drone that depends on real-time image processing responsible for finding and attacking the targets. It also makes use of a machine learning algorithm for its system control.
STM, the weapon manufacturer based in Turkey, said that the autonomous killer robots are designed to engage with anti-terrorist groups. Moreover, it can be operated using two modes-- the manual and the autonomous. Experts have been wary that the creation of these kamikaze drones could bring an unexpected impact on humanity.
Several Groups Want to Ban the Use of Autonomous Weaponized Drones
According to the Unconventional Weapons and Technology Division under the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism research affiliate, Zachary Kallenborn, the appearance of the killer robots could dictate a lot of what could happen during a war.
Kallenborn added that the deployment of the Kargu-2 has opened a new opportunity for autonomous warfare--and this means that humans could now be easily slain by AI-powered drones.
Meanwhile, non-governmental orgs and human rights groups have been alerted about the growing deployment of killer drones. However, the UN members stated that the legal regulations about the ban of the lethal autonomous weapons systems are not necessary due to the limitations of the current technology, Gizmodo reported.
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Written by Joseph Henry
