AI weapon development is a ‘moral imperative’, says US panel led by former Google boss

The US should continue to explore the development and use of AI-powered autonomous weapons despite calls for them to be banned, a commission led by former Google boss Eric Schmidt has concluded.

The government-appointed panel filed a draft report to Congress on Tuesday after two days of discussions centred on the use of artificial intelligence by the world’s biggest military power.

Robert Work, the panel’s vice chairman and a former deputy secretary of defence, said autonomous weapons are expected to make fewer mistakes than humans do in battle, leading to reduced casualties or skirmishes caused by target misidentification.

"It is a moral imperative to at least pursue this hypothesis," he said.