---
title: "Congressional Panel: Please, Let Us Build Killer Robots"
description: "A congressional advisory panel concluded that the U.S. shouldn't ban killer robots or AI because for all the military knows they could be a good thing."
date: "2021-01-28"
modified: "2021-01-28"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/congressional-panel-build-killer-robots"
categories:
  - "Artificial Intelligence"
  - "Robotics"
  - "Robots and Machines"
tags:
  - "artificial intelligence"
  - "killer robot"
  - "military technology"
  - "the digest"
---

# Congressional Panel: Please, Let Us Build Killer Robots

![A congressional advisory panel concluded that the U.S. shouldn't ban killer robots or AI because for all the military knows they could be a good thing.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/terminator2.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: TriStar / Screenshot via YouTube\</em\>*

## Mulling Skynet

Tasked with deciding whether the United States military should be able develop autonomous killer robots capable of using deadly force, a congressional advisory panel decided that the government should keep its options open.

Using similar logic to a parent convincing to get their toddler to try vegetables, members of the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence concluded that Congress should at least *consider* giving killer robots or artificial intelligence systems a chance, *[Reuters ](<https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-military-ai-idUSKBN29V2M0>)*[reports](<https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-military-ai-idUSKBN29V2M0>). Otherwise, the military might never know if they actually perform so well that they kill *fewer* innocent people, according to the logic of the panel, which made this decision despite [growing international pressure](<https://futurism.com/scientists-ban-ai-killer-robots>) to [ban killer AI outright](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/fighting-back-against-militarized-killer-robots>).

## Moral Imperative

The committee's decision doesn't directly shape U.S. policy, but the group, led by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, does have Congress' ear, according to *Reuters*. And its decision aligns with actions the military has already taken, like [laying out ethics principles](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/pentagon-ai-ethics-dod-warfare>) that don't call for much more than making sure that killer AI actually works.

Arguing that an effective AI might take actions that result in fewer casualties than human soldiers, committee vice chairman and former deputy secretary of defense Robert Work said that "it is a moral imperative to at least pursue this hypothesis," according to *Reuters*.

## Arms Race

Of course, the fact is that the U.S. military has already started [developing autonomous tanks](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/us-military-denies-autonomous-killer-robots>), which it strategically terms "lethality automated systems." The militaries of [China](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/china-selling-autonomous-killer-drones>), [Russia](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/russia-semi-autonomous-robot-tanks-useless-syria>), and [the U.K.](<https://futurism.com/uk-autonomous-killer-robots>) have all developed robots, drones, or algorithms capable of taking a human life as well — suggesting that this so-called moral imperative to explore killer tech is really more of an imperative to not fall behind in an arms race.

"\[The commission's\] focus on the need to compete with similar investments made by China and Russia... only serves to encourage arms races," Mary Wareham, coordinator of the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, told *Reuters.*

**READ MORE:** [U.S. commission cites 'moral imperative' to explore AI weapons](<https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-military-ai-idUSKBN29V2M0>) \[*Reuters*\]

**More on killer robots:** *[These Are the Pentagon's New Ethics "Principles" for AI in Warfare](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/pentagon-ai-ethics-dod-warfare>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)