Robot Wars is no longer a BBC TV gameshow. Many of the world’s major military powers are developing ‘killer robots’. Unlike the game show, these robots are not remoted controlled and there are no judges.. They are the tanks, fighter jets, submarines and war ships of the future - machines that can find their own targets and kill them without human supervision. The emphasis is on military force multiplication with killer robot swarms.

In a lively talk, Noel will use video clips to consider the technical, ethical, and legal challenges for the use of Autonomous Weapons Systems (AKA Killer Robots). What are they, can they technically comply with the laws of war and how will they impact on the stability of global security? Should we ever delegate the decision to kill to a computer program? In the civilian world their use in policing, border control and the suppression of protests is immanent. Is this what we want AI for? Can we stop the creeping authoritarianism? Noel will end with a discussion of what can be done, what we have been doing about it at the UN for the past 6 years and who is blocking our progress.