Moral Panic and Conceptual Paradoxes: Critiquing & Reframing the Call to Ban Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems
PAST EVENT | 24 November 2015 15:00
A seminar will be held on Tuesday 24th November by Professor Chris Jenks from the SMU Dedman School of Law, Dallas Texas.
Using the evocative term ‘killer robots’, the United Nations and human rights group reports claim that lethal autonomous weapon systems (LAWS) are ‘almost a reality’ that ‘will leave humans utterly defenceless’. Yet talks at the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons have yielded more confusion than consensus for a ban on LAWS. This presentation attempts to explain why.
While employing moral panic has been effective marketing, it is impossible to reconcile with the fact that more than 30 militaries have employed defensive, anti-material, weapon systems capable of selecting and engaging targets without further human intervention largely without controversy for three decades. This presentation suggests narrowing the proposed ban from LAWS writ large to those weapon systems whose primary use is to target personnel.
All welcome, refreshments provided.
Supported by the Human Rights for Future Generations Programme
Moral Panic and Conceptual Paradoxes: Critiquing & Reframing the Call to Ban Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems
PAST EVENT | 24 November 2015 15:00
A seminar will be held on Tuesday 24th November by Professor Chris Jenks from the SMU Dedman School of Law, Dallas Texas.
Using the evocative term ‘killer robots’, the United Nations and human rights group reports claim that lethal autonomous weapon systems (LAWS) are ‘almost a reality’ that ‘will leave humans utterly defenceless’. Yet talks at the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons have yielded more confusion than consensus for a ban on LAWS. This presentation attempts to explain why.
While employing moral panic has been effective marketing, it is impossible to reconcile with the fact that more than 30 militaries have employed defensive, anti-material, weapon systems capable of selecting and engaging targets without further human intervention largely without controversy for three decades. This presentation suggests narrowing the proposed ban from LAWS writ large to those weapon systems whose primary use is to target personnel.
All welcome, refreshments provided.
Supported by the Human Rights for Future Generations Programme