AI experts call for boycott over 'killer robots' project at South Korea university | Technology | The Guardian 5/4/18

5/4/18 17(28

AI experts call for boycott

over 'killer robots' project at
South Korea university
Academics around the world voice ‘huge concern’ over
KAIST’s collaboration with defence company on
autonomous weapons

Benjamin Haas in Seoul

Thu 5 Apr 2018 04.25 BST

More than 20 countries have already called for a total ban on killer robots ahead of a
UN meeting next week on autonomous weapons. Photograph: Stephen Curry for the
Guardian

Artificial intelligence researchers from nearly 30 countries are boycotting a South Korean
university over concerns a new lab in partnership with a leading defence company could
lead to “killer robots”.

More than 50 leading academics signed the letter calling for a boycott of Korea Advanced
Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and its partner, defence manufacturer Hanwha
Systems. The researchers said they would not collaborate with the university or host visitors
from KAIST over fears it sought to “accelerate the arms race to develop” autonomous
weapons.

“There are plenty of great things you can do with AI that save lives, including in a military
context, but to openly declare the goal is to develop autonomous weapons and have a
partner like this sparks huge concern,” said Toby Walsh, the organiser of the boycott and a

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/apr/05/killer-robots-south-korea-university-boycott-artifical-intelligence-hanwha Página 1 de 3
AI experts call for boycott over 'killer robots' project at South Korea university | Technology | The Guardian 5/4/18 17(28

professor at the University of New South Wales. “This is a very respected university
partnering with a very ethically dubious partner that continues to violate international
norms.”

The boycott comes ahead of a United Nations meeting in Geneva next week on autonomous
weapons, and more than 20 countries have already called for a total ban on killer robots.
The use of AI in militaries around the world has sparked fears of a Terminator-like situation
and questions have been raised about the accuracy of such weapons and their ability to
distinguish friend from foe.

Hanwha is one of South Korea’s largest weapons manufacturers, and makes cluster
munitions which are banned in 120 countries under an international treaty. South Korea,
along with the US, Russia and China, are not signatories to the convention.

Walsh was initially concerned when a Korea Times article described KAIST as “joining the
global competition to develop autonomous arms” and promptly wrote to the university
asking questions but did not receive a response.

KAIST’s president, Sung-Chul Shin, said he was saddened to hear of the boycott. “I would
like to reaffirm that KAIST does not have any intention to engage in development of lethal
autonomous weapons systems and killer robots,” Shin said in a statement.

“As an academic institution, we value human rights and ethical standards to a very high
degree,” he added. “I reaffirm once again that KAIST will not conduct any research activities
counter to human dignity including autonomous weapons lacking meaningful human
control.”

KAIST opened the research centre for the convergence of national defence and artificial
intelligence on 20 February, with Shin saying at the time it would “provide a strong
foundation for developing national defence technology”.

The centre will focus on “AI-based command and decision systems, composite navigation
algorithms for mega-scale unmanned undersea vehicles, AI-based smart aircraft training
systems, and AI-based smart object tracking and recognition technology”, the since-deleted
announcement said.

South Korea’s Dodaam Systems already manufactures a fully autonomous “combat robot”, a
stationary turret, capable of detecting targets up to 3km away. Customers include the
United Arab Emirates and Qatar and it has been tested on the highly militarised border with
North Korea, but company executives told the BBC in 2015 there were “self-imposed
restrictions” that required a human to deliver a lethal attack.

The Taranis military drone built by the UK’s BAE Systems can technically operate entirely
autonomously, according to Walsh, who said killer robots made everyone less safe, even in a
dangerous neighbourhood.

“Developing autonomous weapons would make the security situation on the Korean

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/apr/05/killer-robots-south-korea-university-boycott-artifical-intelligence-hanwha Página 2 de 3
AI experts call for boycott over 'killer robots' project at South Korea university | Technology | The Guardian 5/4/18 17(28

peninsula worse, not better,” he said. “If these weapons get made anywhere, eventually
they would certainly turn up in North Korea and they would have no qualms about using
them against the South.”

Topics
Artificial intelligence (AI)
South Korea
Robots
Asia Pacific
Computing
news

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/apr/05/killer-robots-south-korea-university-boycott-artifical-intelligence-hanwha Página 3 de 3