At forum, participants ask Nigeria to join advocacy against production of lethal autonomous weapon

The unethical nature and abuse of rights inherent in using machines to kill humans without meaningful human control and the dangers the effect of using lethal autonomous weapons have on the world, especially health implications and human survival, was the focus of a sensitisation forum for media and civil society organisations, organised by the Institute of Church and Society in Ibadan on Monday. YEJIDE GBENGA-OGUNDARE reports.

While there is no confirmed report that there is that killer robots are in use in Nigeria despite the high level of insecurity, there is also a belief that it cannot also be ruled out considering the unexplainable series of plane crashes involving intelligent officers which many have agreed call for investigations.

This forms part of the discussions at a sensitisation forum on the advocacy to stop killer robots organised by the Institute of Church and Society for media personnel and civil society organisations at its conference room in Ibadan.

The forum empasised the need for the Nigerian government to add its voice to the campaign to stop the production of lethal autonomous weapons also called killer robots as it cannot escape the effects of the use and the backlash or when such was applied in any country of the world.

Participants at the forum were unanimous in their call for a treaty banning killer robots as existing legislations are not adequate to combat the phenomenon and they was a consensus that the threats and danger posed by using killer robots pose great challenges to the rights of humans and is a violation of the basic rights.

It was further agreed that the media have a huge role to play in advancing the disarmament campaign and educating people that while Nigeria may not utilise killer robots, it will not be immune to the effect of its use in other nations.

Lethal autonomous weapons or killer robots are weapons of mass destruction that identify, select and kill targets without meaningful human control or a human taking the final decision which gives room to follow laid guidelines even in war situations. It lacks control and is difficult to monitor, it  reduces diplomacy, encourages war and can easily be used by non state actors for acts of terrorism and mass assassination without reason.

Speaking during the sensitisation forum, the director of the Institute of Church and Society, Very Rev. O. Kolade Fadahunsi, stated that the use of fully autonomous weapons to decide who lives or dies without further human intervention crosses a moral threshold  as machines lack the inherent human characteristics  needed to make complex ethical choices.

According to him, insecurity is a major issue that the church cannot shy away from and the church considers it an affront for a machine to have total control on human life as humans may fade out of the decision making loop in certain military actions and no country will be safe. He emphasised the issue of right to life, ethics and considerations in war, principle of human dignity and accountability that is missing in the use of killer robots

At present, nations like the US, Israel, South Korea, China, UK and Russia are already developing weapons systems with significant autonomy in the critical functions of selecting and attacking targets and according to institute of Church and Society, if this is left unchecked, the world could enter a destabilising robotic arms race as the effect of weapons transcend borders.

“It is unclear who, if anyone, could be held responsible for unlawful acts caused by a fully autonomous weapon; the programmer, manufacturer, commander and machine itself. This accountability gap would make it difficult to ensure justice, especially for victims.

“The solution is that the development, production and use of fully autonomous weapons must be banned. Retain meaningful human control over targeting and attack decisions by prohibiting development and use of fully autonomous weapons. Legislate the ban through national laws and by international treaty.

“All countries should articulate their views on the concerns raised by fully autonomous weapons and commit to create a new ban treaty to establish the principle of meaningful human control over the use of force. All technology companies, organisations as well as individuals working to develop artificial intelligence and robotics should pledge to never contribute to the development of fully autonomous weapons,” the Institute of Church and Society advocates.

The forum emphasised the need for a treaty that will combine prohibitions and positive obligations to ban fully autonomous weapons and retain meaningful human control over the use of force with three core obligations; general obligation to maintain meaningful human control over use of force, prohibitions of weapons systems that select and engage targets and by their nature pose fundamental moral or legal problems and specific positive obligations to help ensure that meaningful control is maintained.

At the end of the forum, stakeholders committed to join the advocacy to stop killer robots and advance disarmament campaign.

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