Several robotics companies, including Boston Dynamics, pledge not to support the use of their products for military purposes and call on other companies in the sector to do the same.
Robotics companies are worried about the militarization of their products. They point in particular to the growing accessibility of their robots and the attachment of weapons to them by people who are not competent in this field.
Robots have long entered the military field, but the deployment of these products has made them accessible to a wider audience. Boston Dynamics and five other companies alert in an open letter, published par Axioson their concerns about the misuse of their use and the impact on public trust in robots.
The letter first points out that robots are becoming more accessible to the general public and Boston Dynamics is concerned about “misuse”.
“Untrustworthy people could use them to violate civil rights or to threaten, harm or intimidate others,” the company explains. “Armaments is an area of particular concern (…) and raises new risks of harm and serious ethical issues.”
Consequences for public trust
The letter also points out that the armed uses of robots by unskilled people will damage public confidence in the technology: “We now feel a renewed urgency in light of the growing public concern over the past few months, caused by a small number of people who have obviously gone public with their makeshift practices for arming commercially available robots”.
In concrete terms, companies undertake to closely monitor the uses of their robots by their customers and to explore possible solutions that could mitigate or reduce these risks. Boston Dynamics is calling on other robotics companies to do the same.