Cybersecurity expert Robert Siciliano warns that autonomous weapons could target people without human control, while 22 nations at the UN called for a ban. Boston Dynamics' Atlas and Hanson Robotics' Sophia show how advanced robots have become, but Siciliano stresses the risks of hacking and weaponization as machine learning spreads.
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The United Nations wrapping up its first official meeting today on weaponized robots that can identify and destroy targets without human control. 22 nations today demanded a ban on them, and scientists warn that a new kind of war is coming as militaries around the world pour money into robot weapons. Now this, the Atlas humanoid robot from Boston Dynamics, seen jumping off of boxes and nailing black— backflips in an intense Olympic-style gymnastics routine. Joining me now is cybersecurity expert with Hotspot Shield, Robert Siciliano. Good to see you, Robert. Should we be concerned by the progress of robots like this?
Without a doubt, yeah. You know, it wasn't too long ago that planes bombing required humans. Now we have autonomous drones that essentially are doing the work for us. What's it going to take for those same drones to determine the actual target? And in some cases make mistakes.
A company called Hanson Robotics is also creating a lifelike robot it calls Sophia. It can see people's faces, process conversational and emotional data, and you know what, it can use this to form relationships with people. I mean, this is getting kind of weird, Robert. Is there going to be a time when we can't tell who's a human and what's a robot?
You know, right now, at its most simplistic, if you have Gmail, you respond to a Gmail, Gmail is listening to the conversation, and they'll give you a few words to respond with that are based on, you know, cognitive abilities to write sentences. And that right there tells you, at its very basic level, how well machines could communicate today.
You know, Robert, Boston Dynamics is trying to make the robots less terrifying, and other companies, as well. It still feels like it's straight out of an anxiety dream when you see images like the robot dog we're looking at from Boston Dynamics right now. What do you think? Is it working? Are they going to be less terrifying?
You know, the more machine learning, the more machines in our lives, I think the more comfortable we'll become. And that's not necessarily a good thing. Those same machines, which are in some cases being designed to kill, at any given point in time could go wrong. And what then? RoboCop?
Yeah, some say it's good for— protect our U.S. soldiers to have robots instead. Where do you come down?
You know, I'm all about advancing technology. I'm all about, you know, saving human lives. But there are those out there with nefarious mindsets that, you know, certainly could use this for criminal hacking, social engineering, and, of course, you know, weapons of mass destruction.
All right, thank you, Robert Siciliano. We really appreciate you, sir. Thanks for coming on. Thank you.
