(Vatican Radio) Campaigners are urging the United Nations to ban the creation of “killer
robots” which they say would be able to choose and fire on targets on their own, without
any human intervention. The issue is under discussion Friday at the annual meeting
of the Convention on Conventional Weapons in Geneva. The Campaign to Stop Killer
Robots argues that giving machines the power to decide who lives and dies on the battlefield
is an unacceptable application of technology. Vatican Radio spoke to Jody Williams,
Nobel Peace Prize winner for her work to ban landmines and spokesperson for the Campaign
to Stop Killer Robots. She says, “We do not believe that humans beings should give
the power of life and death to a machine” The Campaign says “human control of any
combat robot is essential to ensuring both humanitarian protection and effective legal
control. A comprehensive, pre-emptive prohibition on fully autonomous weapons is urgently
needed.” Listen to Francesca Sabatinelli’s interview with Jody Williams