Professors boycott Korean university for research into ‘killer robots’

More than fifty professors from all over the world who specialize in robotics and AI research are boycotting a Korean university. They do this because the institution is said to be working on the development of ‘killer robots’.

In a letter, the professors say that South Korean research university KAIST is working with Korean defense company Hanwha Systems on AI technology for military weapons, with which the university has entered the global competition for the development of autonomous weapon systems, according to the professors. The scientists are very concerned about this and say they will boycott the university until the director convinces them that no autonomous weapons will be developed that lack meaningful human control.

The many professors, including Antal van den Bosch of Radboud University Nijmegen and Maurice Bruynooghe of KU Leuven, argue that autonomous weapons, also known as ‘killer robots’, can bring about a third revolution in warfare, partly because they make it possible to to wage war faster and on a larger scale. The professors are also afraid that they will fall into the wrong hands and be used, for example, by dictatorships or terrorists against innocent civilians. Killer robots are believed to be a Pandora’s box that is difficult to close once opened. The professors believe that humanity can also choose to simply not develop autonomous weapons and call on KAIST to embark on that path.

There have been concerns about the development of ‘killer robots’ for some time. For example, executives of companies involved in artificial intelligence and robotics sent an open letter to the United Nations in August last year in which they warn against these weapons and call on the organization to take action. Among the directors was Elon Musk of Tesla and SpaceX. In 2015, Human Rights Watch and Harvard Law School also warned about the dangers of autonomous weapons, advocating a ban.