International Human Rights Groups Launch Campaign Against Robot AssassinsNicholas West Robots are gradually replacing humans in the workforce; at this point they are doing so in what would be considered assembly-line jobs where human error and exhaustion reasonably factor in. However, with the heralding of artificial intelligence, it is being projected that robots will take on higher employment roles, and even management positions in the relatively near future (2015-2018). The manufacturing and employment ramifications are bad enough, but it is the militarys exploration of autonomous killer robots that is the ultimate concern, as the video report below highlights. Again, citing soldier exhaustion and error, the military propaganda states that these robots will actually save lives, and could even prevent war crimes. However, as Human Rights Watch and The Nobel Womens Initiative (two groups which can be criticized for their questionable political initiatives in other areas) have correctly detailed in their cautionary report on killer robots that once computer-driven machines are permitted to autonomously decide who is to be killed, with no human accountability, we have profoundly lost control over our own humanity. The cautionary tale of a machine takeover of the human race has until now been contained to the realm of science fiction. However, even proponents of robotics, such as the great inventor Nikola Tesla who envisioned a future filled with intelligent cars, robotic human companions, and the use of sensors, warned against permitting autonomous growth and propagation of robotic systems. We are on the cusp of a potentially disturbing future. Please share this information and support any campaign to bring an end to releasing this type of technology on the nation and the world. For a fictionalized account of the machine/human ethics debate raised by The Economists digital editor Tom Standage in the video above, and what might happen if a robot goes rogue, please see the four-part webseries DR0NE, which begins HERE Read other articles by Nicholas West Here 