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The March 2020 attack was in Libya and perpetrated by a Kargu-2 quadcopter drone produced by Turkish military tech company STM “during a conflict between Libyan government forces and a breakaway military faction led by Khalifa Haftar, commander of the Libyan National Army,” the Star reports, adding: “The Kargu-2 is fitted with an explosive charge and the drone can be directed at a target in a kamikaze attack, detonating on impact.” The drones were operating in a “highly effective” autonomous mode that required no human controller and the report notes: “The lethal autonomous weapons systems were programmed to attack targets...

Definitions. No single, universally accepted definition of LAWS is used in international discussions. However, Department of Defense Directive 3000.09, which establishes U.S. policy on autonomy in weapons systems, defines LAWS as “weapon system[s] that, once activated, can select and engage targets without further intervention by a human operator.” This definition’s principal characteristic is the role of the human operator with regard to target selection and engagement decisions. Other countries such as the United Kingdom, however, have grounded their definition of LAWS on different characteristics, in particular the technological sophistication of the weapon system, such that LAWS are considered to be...

Defense contractor displays new artificial intelligence-powered military hardware, techniques that it says will shape the battlefield of the future The Rafael defense contractor on Sunday unveiled a number of new weapons and systems, including miniature drones and a robotic dog, which it plans to sell to the Israel Defense Forces and foreign militaries and that it claims will change the face of modern warfare. The company, one of the country’s leading weapons manufacturers, sees these technological developments as a step toward a more interconnected and intelligent future battlefield, one in which many of the impediments to proper communication between various...

Personnel will have the ability to "drive" the "computerized canines" using virtual reality headsets, according to the US Air Force. For the last year, the 325th Security Forces Squadron and Tyndall Air Force Base have worked with Ghost Robotics on a project to "enhance security and safety for the base population," according to a US Air Force press release. To accomplish this, Tyndall will incorporate a series of "semi-autonomous robot dogs" into patrol regiments, becoming "one of the first" Air Force bases to implement such technologies. On Tuesday, a demonstration at the Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida illustrated the...

MENLO PARK, CA—It's looking increasingly likely that Trump's lawsuits won't change the results of the election, and that his claims about fraudulent voting and suspicious voting machines won't swing the election in his favor. But many people are now raising concerns as Silicon Valley startup Skynet has unveiled a new line of voting machines. "WE NEED TO LOOK INTO THESE!" tweeted Trump. "RIGGED ELECTION???"

Sydney - Artificial Intelligence tanks, fly by wire planes, drones, weapons systems, you name it; they’re here, and the question is what they can do. A lot of facts are forming a rather large mess. Nobody’s too sure where AI weapons will go. The sheer volume of rhetoric and shill-like babble about military AI is already gigantic. The constant stream of new AI in military roles is making headlines every day. Everyone has an opinion; answers to questions, maybe not. The likely effect of super-lethal AI-operated weapons is one of those questions. “Slaughter” is the more usual answer. This is...

WASHINGTON: In a 5 to 0 sweep, an AI ‘pilot’ developed by Heron Systems beat one of the Air Force’s top F-16 fighter pilots in DARPA’s simulated aerial dogfight contest today. “It’s a giant leap,” said DARPA’s Justin (call sign “Glock”) Mock, who served as a commentator on the trials. AI still has a long way to go before the Air Force pilots would be ready to hand over the stick to an artificial intelligence during combat, DARPA officials said during today’s live broadcast of the AlphaDogfight trials. But the three-day trials show that AI systems can credibly maneuver an...

DARPA’s AlphaDogfight trials have officially come to a close with Heron Systems’ incredible artificial intelligence pilot system defeating not only its industry competitors, but going on to secure 5 straight victories against a highly trained U.S. Air Force F-16 pilot, without the human pilot scoring a single hit. Eight teams were selected to create artificial intelligence (AI) “agents” that would be capable of simulating a real dogfight between fighters, referred to as within-visual-range air combat maneuvering, more formally. The first two rounds of this competition saw these virtual pilots engage with one another in simulated combat environments in November and...

“Pretty,” was the word an Alabama senior used to describe the lifelike robotic companion pet she received from a new pilot project administered by the Alabama Department of Senior Services. It was the first word she had said in a long time, according to department Commissioner Jean Brown. The Alabama agency, along with several other state agencies managing programs for seniors in New York, Florida and Pennsylvania, have partnered with robotic pet manufacturer Ageless Innovation to combat loneliness and provide comfort and companionship for isolated seniors. With insight into the growing epidemic of loneliness and need for interactive play amongst...

The Bots actually respond like a Live Adversary - For the gun enthusiasts that want more out of just shooting at paper targets or moving targets. How about moving robot targets that moves autonomously? Check out Robotic Human-Type Targets from Australia’s Marathon Targets, they’re basically dummy mannequins on wheels with a computer embedded. The bots can be programmed to various scenario whether the bots is hit or not. The idea is to deploy human-looking dummies that can “look, move, and behave like people,” with a degree of networked autonomy. For example, when one bot goes down in a hail of...

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On October 29, 1969, the internet era began as UCLA Computer Science Professor Len Kleinrock sent the first message on ARPANET, a network of computers that would evolve to become the internet. Five decades later, and 30 years since the World Wide Web brought the internet into the mainstream, global digital connectivity has fundamentally changed our world. Marking the anniversary, our founder and inventor of the web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, said: “It’s astonishing to think the internet is already half a century old. But its birthday is not altogether a happy one. The internet — and the World Wide Web...

The rise of killer robots is now unstoppable and a new digital Geneva Convention is essential to protect the world from the growing threat they pose, according to the President of the world’s biggest technology company. In an interview with The Telegraph, Brad Smith, president of Microsoft, said the use of 'lethal autonomous weapon systems' poses a host of new ethical questions which need to be considered by governments as a matter of urgency. He said the rapidly advancing technology, in which flying, swimming or walking drones can be equipped with lethal weapons systems – missiles, bombs or guns –...

The Tesla and SpaceX founder announced a goal of implanting chips into human brains as early as next year to create direct human connections to computers.Elon Musk, the futurist billionaire behind SpaceX and Tesla, outlined his plans to connect humans' brains directly to computers on Tuesday night, describing a campaign to create "symbiosis with artificial intelligence." He said the first prototype could be implanted in a person by the end of next year.Arriving at that goal "will take a long time," Musk said in a presentation at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, noting that securing federal approval...

Full Title: ROBOT WARS China unveils terrifying new armoured truck which launches swarms of killer drones to attack its enemies17th May 2019, 4:52 pm Updated: 18th May 2019, 6:27 amThe mighty YJ2080 is equipped with 12 launch tubes - four for reconnaissance drones and the other  eight for explosive laden drones which can travel at 110mph.Its mission will be to eliminate targets beyond traditional line of sight and kill from above with four pound bombs.The truck's deadly drone system can search for and destroy its own targets, reports Popular Mechanics.Earlier this year, China revealed a lethal fully autonomous drones that can carry out targeted...

Small flames could be seen igniting at the base of the engines before they quickly disappeared The rocket remained still. With favorable weather conditions, Saturday’s launch was originally slated for 8:06 p.m., but a brief stop in the countdown to troubleshoot a problem pushed the liftoff back to 8:15 p.m., the company said. All systems were “go” until the countdown was halted just seven second before liftoff after a problem was detected, ULA said. The attempt was cancelled for the night, but it was not clear when ULA will try again. ULA is working in conjunction with the Air Force’s...

The ABC is being slammed, yet again. This time for their most recent episode of Q&A, where sexologist Nikki Goldstein suggested socially inept people could benefit from sex bots. “I feel like there are people who really do struggle to have these intimate connections,” Goldstein said. “I’ve interviewed people before that go to brothels, and they feel that the only way they can have this girlfriend experience is to be paying for it. They don’t necessarily want to be there.” “Now when I think of sex robots and where we’re going with A.I. technology, I feel like that’s the perfect...

Officials say they want computers to be capable of explaining their decisions to military commanders The report noted that while AI systems are already technically capable of choosing targets and firing weapons, commanders have been hesitant about surrendering control to weapons platforms partly because of a lack of confidence in machine reasoning, especially on the battlefield where variables could emerge that a machine and its designers haven’t previously encountered. Right now, for example, if a soldier asks an AI system like a target identification platform to explain its selection, it can only provide the confidence estimate for its decision, DARPA’s...