The US military is worried about the mutation of military robot programs, which may destroy the world

There is no doubt that in future wars, autonomous robot soldiers will become the absolute main force in combat. However, the US Naval Research Laboratory recently issued a research report on robotic soldiers, "The Dangers, Ethics, and Design of Autonomous Robots", warning the military against using robots and suggesting setting ethical standards for military robots. The researchers believe that strict passwords must be set for military robots in advance, otherwise the whole world may be destroyed by their iron hands.

The report states that setting ethical standards for military robots is a serious task and humans must face up to the rapid development of robots that are smart enough and may even eventually demonstrate cognitive advantages over modern soldiers.

Dr. Patrick Lin said in the report: "There is a common misconception that robots only do what they are programmed to do. Unfortunately, this idea is outdated. The days when a person wrote and understood a program are gone." Dr. Lin said that in fact, most programs nowadays are completed by a group of programmers, and almost no one can fully understand all programs. Therefore, no one can accurately predict which part of these programs may mutate.

How can robot soldiers be protected from terrorists, hackers or software glitches? If a robot suddenly goes berserk, who should be held responsible, the robot's programmer or the president of the United States? Should robots have a "kill switch"? Lin suggests that the only way to solve these problems is to set up "codes" for robots in advance, including ethical, legal, social and political factors.

I also agree with this principle. With the development of technology, the three laws may become the safety principles for future robots.

Warning to programmers not to rush

The report also pointed out that today's US military robot designers are often eager to achieve results, often rushing immature robot technology into the market, causing the progress of artificial intelligence to continue to accelerate in an uncontrolled field. What's worse is that there is currently no effective measure to control errors in automatic systems. If there is an error in the design, it is enough to cost the lives of all mankind.

The designers' psychological reasons may be related to the order of the US Congress, which stipulates that by 2015, one-third of ground combat will use robot soldiers.

“Three Laws of Robotics”

In fact, a simple ethical code, such as the "Three Laws of Robotics", was introduced as early as 1950, but they are not enough to control the ethical behavior of autonomous robots. The "Three Laws of Robotics" is Asimov's most significant contribution to science fiction theory. He wrote in his famous book "I, Robot":

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to be injured.

2. A robot must obey the orders given to it by humans, unless such orders would conflict with the First Law.

3. A robot must protect its own safety unless such protection would conflict with the first or second law.

The "three laws" have been very popular in science fiction, and robots in some other authors' science fiction also follow these three laws. However, as of 2005, the three laws have not yet been applied in the real robot industry. Currently, many technical experts in the field of artificial intelligence and robotics.