Uralvagonzavod’s T-14 Armata tank and the Northrop Grumman’s unmanned combat air vehicle, the X-47B, are examples of very advanced weapons systems edging toward full autonomy. The problem, Prof. Sharkey explained, is that while these systems are the pinnacle of advancements in AI, the technology nonetheless encounters difficulties in distinguishing civilians and combatants, which presents a challenge for complying with International Humanitarian Law, also known as ‘the laws of war’. At the United Nations level, there is an ongoing debate on LAWS within the context of the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects (CCW). During the 2014 CCW Meeting of High Contracting Parties, Member States agreed on a new mandate on LAWS and, since then have discussed the matter on a yearly basis. While progress is slow, Prof. Sharkey noted that in 2016 the United Nations established a Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) to specifically discuss, over a three-week period, the legal, ethical and societal concerns of LAWS in the context of the objectives and purposes of the Convention. Prof. Sharkey also noted that developments in this field were beginning to spill over into law enforcement. In this regard, he noted the Skunk Riot Control Copter that is armed with pepper spray for crowd control and Chaotic Moon’s "stun copter". He noted the positive side of the technology, which keeps police out of harm’s way, but stressed the importance of not letting these developments get out of hand by dehumanising violence and changing the very nature of policing. Echoing Dr. Karachalios’ earlier comments, Prof. Sharkey concluded noting the importance of education as we move forward. Specifically, he acknowledged that, while professional ethics is taught to engineers in universities, this is largely ethics with respect to the client and not the ethics of social responsibility. We must be more aware of the various rights and societal issues at stake here.
4. Ethics and artificial intelligence Building on the foundation laid by Prof. Sharkey, Ms. Kay Firth-Butterfield, Barrister-at-Law, Distinguished Scholar at the Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law, University of Texas, Austin and Co-Founder of the Consortium for Law and Ethics of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, led the second session on Ethics and AI. At the outset of her talk, Ms. Firth-Butterfield, noted that advancements in this field are often compared to the industrial revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries, but according to her, it is simply not the same thing. The speed, rate of change, and impact of this new industrial revolution are unparalleled. In this regard, she expressed that it is absolutely paramount that we already start discussing the Page 7 of 18