It’s one thing if a botched software update causes a Nest or Hive “smart” thermostat to either freeze or swelter people in their homes, but what if humans miss one tiny error in the code of killer robots or autonomous weapons? What if enemy nation states hack those killing machines?

Paul Scharre, who previously worked on autonomous weapon policy for the Office of the Secretary of Defense, is the Project Director for the 20YY Warfare Initiative at the Center for a New American Security. In addition to his interesting posts on Just Security and Defense One about “killer robots,” his new report, “Autonomous Weapons and Operational Risk” (pdf), examines the dangers of deploying fully autonomous weapons.

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