Allowing the development of killer robots or fully automated weapons of war would never bring peace, according to Archbishop Ivan Jurkovic. The Vatican representative, who is in Geneva to observe conferences with the United Nations this month, also warned that it could lead to dehumanization.
Jurkovic attended the April 9 UN conference on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS). The session brought together government experts to discuss the legal and ethical issues of automated weapon or killer robots.
"A world in which autonomous systems are left to manage, rigidly or randomly, fundamental questions related to the lives of human beings and nations," the Archbishop said. "[It] would lead us imperceptibly to dehumanization and to a weakening of the bonds of a true and lasting fraternity of the human family."
Jurkovic also advised the experts that relying on a machine during war won't be effective in achieving goals of peace because automated weapons do not have the capacity to make calls or judgments like humans. He further said, "The Catholic principle teaches it is morally acceptable to pursue a good goal that could have an unintended evil effect if and when there is a proportionate or adequate reason for allowing the evil."
The Archbishop emphasized that global peace and security are still best achieved through dialogues. Prior to speaking to the LAWS participants, Jurkovic also spoke in a human rights conference about peacemakers like Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Pope Francis, who chose to address issues plaguing the world with non-violence. Jurkovic said that both figures and advocates of human rights believe that violence can only bring more problems and divisions rather than unity.
An interest group has also been established to call for the limitations in the development of LAWS, if not ban the systems completely. At least 22 countries have signed up for the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots as of November 2017, but the U.S. and U.K. have yet to joined the call.
