American Ministry of Defense officially announced the launch of the “replicator” program. This program aims to produce and deploy thousands of autonomous combat robots in the next two years. Kathleen Hicks, the current Deputy Minister of Defense of the United States, stated that this step is necessary to counter the growing military power of China and other global threats.
Autonomous military systems capable of some degree of autonomous military operations have existed for approximately ten years. However, their use has been limited until now.
The recent actions taken by the American government, including the introduction of the replicator program, indicate that the era of autonomous combat robots has truly arrived. The replicator program aims to provide the American army with thousands of affordable autonomous systems for all types of troops.
There are optimists who believe that combat robots can be carefully programmed to adhere to the rules of warfare, minimizing harm to civilians. On the other hand, skeptics argue that not all situations can be predicted, and autonomous combat units may mistakenly attack innocent targets in new conditions.
Nevertheless, Hicks promised that the US Army will adopt a “responsible and ethical approach to AI and Autonomous Systems.” This implies that systems capable of eliminating designated targets will still require manual approval from a human operator.
The United States could become the first country to deploy such a large-scale autonomous system for military operations. However, it is likely that other countries will follow suit, potentially creating adverse precedents in the future.
To prevent unintentional casualties among civilian populations, close supervision and control of autonomous weapons by human operators are necessary. Additionally, the international community should establish uniform rules and restrictions for the development and use of such systems. Failure to do so may result in unpredictable and highly dangerous consequences arising from an AI arms race.