Are you ready for robot fighter jets?
The United States Air Force is testing F-16 fighter jets controlled
by artificial intelligence — even conducting training dogfights in American
airspace between aircraft “piloted” by AI and those with human crews.
The Air Force says it will deploy armed, automated, uncrewed fighter jets in as
little as six years.
Corporate America has so far failed — calamitously — to produce safe and
reliable “self-driving” cars.
But we’re supposed to believe the military-industrial complex can get it right
with fighter jets that cost tens (or even hundreds) of millions of dollars, rip
through the atmosphere at supersonic speeds, and can be armed with devastatingly
powerful air-to-surface missiles?
This is just one example of a perverse “gold rush” underway right now throughout
the military-industrial complex, with tech companies veritably salivating at the
prospect of untold billions to be made from the Pentagon’s infatuation with
using robots and artificial intelligence in America’s military operations.
To President Joe Biden: [[link removed]]
Even if they work as intended, autonomous weapons inherently dehumanize the
people targeted and make it easier to tolerate widespread killing. American use
of autonomous weapons will also spark a new arms race — guaranteed to make the
world more dangerous and with no “winner.” It is also highly likely that things
won’t go as intended — for example, racial bias and mistaken targeting of
civilians are a near certainty. And those are just the risks we can foresee. As
commander-in-chief, you should direct Pentagon officials not to develop or
deploy robot fighter jets or other autonomous weapons.
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Thanks for taking action.
For peace,
- Robert Weissman, President of Public Citizen
Public Citizen | 1600 20th Street NW | Washington DC 20009 | Unsubscribe
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