Toby Walsh - How long before Killer Robots? - ICRA Keynote

In 2007, Noel Sharky stated that "we are sleepwalking into a brave new world where robots decide who, where and when to kill". Since then thousands of AI and robotics researchers have joined his calls to regulate "killer robots". But sometime this year, Turkey will deploy fully autonomous home-built kamikaze drones on its border with Syria. What are the ethical choices we need to consider? Will we end up in an episode of Black Mirror? Or is the UN listening to calls and starting the process of regulating this space? Prof. Toby Walsh will discuss this important issue, consider where we are at and where we need to go. In 2015, he helped launch an open letter calling on the UN to regulate fully autonomous weapons that made headlines around the world. Since then, he has spoken multiple times at the UN in New York and Geneva, and to politicians and the public around the world about these important issues.

Toby Walsh is Scientia Professor of Artificial Intelligence at the University of New South Wales and Data61, guest professor at the Technical University of Berlin, and adjunct professor at QUT. He was named by the Australian newspaper as one of the "rock stars" of Australia's digital revolution. Professor Walsh is a strong advocate for limits to ensure AI is used to improve our lives. He has been a leading voice in the discussion about autonomous weapons (aka "killer robots"), speaking at the UN in New York and Geneva on the topic. He is a Fellow of the Australia Academy of Science and recipient of the NSW Premier's Prize for Excellence in Engineering and ICT. He appears regularly on TV and radio, and has authored two books on AI for a general audience, the most recent entitled "2062: The World that AI Made".