Artificial intelligence, which has a very important role in increasing the comfort level of humanity, may threaten humanity in the future.
Stating that the third stage has been entered due to autonomous robots, especially in battlefields, experts point out that international organizations such as the UN and Human Rights Watch have important duties to prevent the emergence of negative scenarios and to ensure that artificial intelligence continues to contribute to human and living life.
Üsküdar University Software Engineering Department Head Assist. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Türker Tekin Ergüzel said that artificial intelligence is widely used in areas that increase the comfort level of humanity, optimization of existing resources, health informatics and engineering solution approaches.
Stating that software-based systems that are based on human learning and decision-making mechanisms and have faster processing performance can be defined as artificial intelligence systems, Asst. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Türker Tekin Ergüzel said, "However, this development of artificial intelligence systems that can develop a will that can conflict with human will, and its transformation into a military and armed product that will soon become a danger to humanity, brings the questioning of the future of artificial intelligence in the near future."
Call to the UN on the risks of artificial intelligence
Assist. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Türker Tekin Ergüzel said:
"About 2 years after Nobel Prize-winning physicist Stephen Hawking warned that artificial intelligence, one of the most important achievements of humanity, "could be the last achievement of the human race" if it cannot be controlled, 116 experts, including SpaceX founder Elon Musk and important names around the world, drew attention to the possible risks of artificial intelligence again. With their call to the United Nations, they pointed out that the development of autonomous robots and systems with artificial intelligence methods has reached very dangerous dimensions and that humanity may face irreversible dangers."
Military systems enter the third phase
Stating that military systems have entered the third phase with the development of nuclear weapons following the military weapons developed with the discovery of gunpowder and the autonomous military systems that emerged afterwards, Asst. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Türker Tekin Ergüzel said: "We see that especially the USA, the UK, South Korea and Israel are leading the development of military systems. Some of the machine guns produced can continuously scan the environment, detect sound and image, and fire "when deemed necessary". Similarly, Taranis, developed by the Royal British Air Force, is a fully autonomous armed IHA. The aircraft, which can fire air-to-air or ground missiles with its decision-making algorithm, is expected to replace Tornado G4 fighter jets in 2030."
Autonomous combat systems are a major threat for the future
Pointing out that the fact that autonomous combat systems will be developed in the following years and will be used in border regions or military operations by removing the human factor from the circuit, Assist. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Türker Tekin Ergüzel made the following evaluations:
"Hacking of software installed on autonomous systems, autonomous weapons falling into the hands of terrorist organizations, and autonomous weapons switching to their own decision-making processes in the next step and getting out of human control can be quite possible risks in the next century. Inter-state wars may become more widespread with the introduction of autonomous defense systems, and the space for consultation and reconciliation processes currently used for inter-state politics will become even narrower. Similarly, system failure or limited human intervention will raise questions about who is responsible for solving problems in terms of military law of war and military policies. Instead of a mechanism that can make adaptive decisions, has willpower, and utilizes emotional intelligence in its decisions, an approach focused on instant results and power will endanger life on earth."
Measures should be taken at the international level
Assist. Prof. Dr. Türker Tekin Ergüzel said that international organizations such as the UN and Human Rights Watch have important duties to prevent the emergence of possible negative scenarios and to ensure that artificial intelligence continues to contribute to human and living life, to end diseases, wars and poverty. Assist. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Türker Tekin Ergüzel emphasized that although it is unlikely that autonomous weapons will be directly banned or included in the scope of arms control, a precise definition should first be made for autonomous weapon systems. In the next stage, he pointed out that in the software development processes of these systems, the process of defining military missions for robots and determining the boundaries of defined missions should be defined by the international consortium to be established within the UN.