Robotic researchers protest AI weaponry

Alex Cnossen

Alex Cnossen Jun 28, 2025

Jan 12, 2018

Republish Article

You can republish articles in print or online. Simply copy the HTML below, which includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline, and credit to Cascade PBS. Republishing of the photos or videos embedded in an article can occur only if the photo or video is a copyright of Cascade Public Media ("CPM") and not of a third party. Photos and videos that are a copyright of CPM are not required to appear in the republished article, but if they are used, they must be embedded where they appear in the original article and must include the attribution to the CPM photographer.

You may reprint in any medium
You may edit only for tense and timeliness
If republishing in print you can edit for length if you follow our print republishing guidelines.
You may write your own headline
Include a byline and shirttail with credit and link to Cascade PBS
Include our tracking pixel
Remove if we ask

          <article>
            <header>
              <hgroup>
                <h1>Robotic researchers protest AI weaponry</h1>
                <h2><p>The Guardian reports that Tesla’s Elon Musk, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, Google DeepMind's chief executive Demis Hassabis, Stephan Hawking and about 1,000 Artificial Intelligence and robotics researchers are calling for a ban on autonomous weapons. They argue that the weapons lower the threshold of going to</p></h2>
              </hgroup>
               <p>By <a href="/author/alex-cnossen-crosscut-com/">Alex Cnossen</a></p> 
              <p><time datetime="2025-02-04T05:00:00-08:00">Jan 12, 2018</time></p>
            </header>
            <figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://www.cascadepbs.org/sites/default/files/images/article/gallery/5845550732_c267eba8af_o-e1438018617434.jpg" class="kg-image" alt="5845550732_c267eba8af_o" loading="lazy" width="225" height="300"></figure><p>The Guardian <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jul/27/musk-wozniak-hawking-ban-ai-autonomous-weapons?ref=dev.cascadepbs.org">reports</a> that Tesla’s Elon Musk, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, Google DeepMind's chief executive Demis Hassabis, Stephan Hawking and about 1,000 Artificial Intelligence and robotics researchers are calling for a ban on autonomous weapons. They argue that the weapons lower the threshold of going to war and increase the loss of human life.</p><p>Autonomous weapons can select and fire upon targets without human intervention. Most nations are concerned about the impact these weapons could have, but they're split on how to address them.</p><p>"The key question for humanity today is whether to start a global AI arms race or to prevent it from starting,” the authors said in an open letter they presented at the International Joint Conference on AI.</p>
          </article>

The Guardian reports that Tesla’s Elon Musk, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, Google DeepMind's chief executive Demis Hassabis, Stephan Hawking and about 1,000 Artificial Intelligence and robotics researchers are calling for a ban on autonomous weapons. They argue that the weapons lower the threshold of going to war and increase the loss of human life.

Autonomous weapons can select and fire upon targets without human intervention. Most nations are concerned about the impact these weapons could have, but they're split on how to address them.

"The key question for humanity today is whether to start a global AI arms race or to prevent it from starting,” the authors said in an open letter they presented at the International Joint Conference on AI.

Our members' donations make local journalism happen.

Support once for $1

Support monthly for $7

Cascade PBS Passport
Mossback members-only newsletter
Print Viewer Guide (opt-in)

Support monthly for $25

Invitation to quarterly news and original programming video conference
Annual in-person meet-up with news & programming teams
Special event perks (reduced price or free tickets, cocktails, etc.)

Continue

By Alex Cnossen

Alex Cnossen is a Northwest native and has worked for several local publications, including KOMO, KIRO and KING-TV. He grew up in Portland and loves to run and write. Follow him on Twitter @CnossenAle