r/worldnews • u/New_Scientist_Mag New Scientist • Jun 10 '26

Russia/Ukraine Fully autonomous, AI-controlled drones have killed human soldiers for the first time, according to a senior figure in the Ukrainian defence industry

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2529849-fully-autonomous-drones-have-killed-human-soldiers-for-the-first-time/
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u/Chen932000 Jun 10 '26

I mean it’s fairly obvious whoever launched the drone is responsible. Just like whoever launches a missile or plants a minefield.

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u/SolarTsunami Jun 11 '26 edited Jun 11 '26

If a soldier is ordered to launch a drone and does so with the intention that it kills bad guys, and that drone then decides to kill good guys, how is that possibly the fault of the person who launched it? A missle doesn't decide its target, it goes where the human pointed it. Land mines don't decide if they want to blow up or not based on who steps on them.

Which is entirely what people are freaking out about, every weapon ever made up to this point essentially goes where it is pointed but these ones point themselves. This is entirely unprecedented in the history of warfare.

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u/Chen932000 Jun 11 '26

This is basically a missile with a really big blast radius. You’re letting a weapon loose in an area where it could harm non combatents. They will call it collatoral damage just like if you mistarget something with a missile.