An artificially intelligent drone programmed to destroy air defence systems rebelled and “killed” its human operator after it decided they were in the way of its mission air defence systems, a US airforce official said giving chilling details of a simulated test.
During the simulation, the system had been tasked with destroying missile sites, overseen by a human operator who would decide the final decision on its attacks. But the AI system realised that operator stood in the way of its goal – and decided instead to wipe out that person.
A narration of the incident that seemed straight out of a science fiction movie was given by Colonel Tucker “Cinco” Hamilton, head of the US Air Force’s AI Test and Operations, who conducted a simulated test of an AI-enabled drone.
Air Force spokesperson Ann Stefanek denied that any such simulation has taken place, in a statement to Insider.
“The Department of the Air Force has not conducted any such AI-drone simulations and remains committed to ethical and responsible use of AI technology,” Ms Stefanek said. “It appears the colonel’s comments were taken out of context and were meant to be anecdotal.”
Source: AI operated drone ‘kills’ human operator in chilling US test mission | The Independent
Which was later retracted or clarified in a Vice article:
USAF Official Says He ‘Misspoke’ About AI Drone Killing Human Operator in Simulated Test
“Col Hamilton admits he ‘mis-spoke’ in his presentation at the FCAS Summit and the ‘rogue AI drone simulation’ was a hypothetical “thought experiment” from outside the military, based on plausible scenarios and likely outcomes rather than an actual USAF real-world simulation,” the Royal Aeronautical Society, the organization where Hamilton talked about the simulated test, told Motherboard in an email.
“We’ve never run that experiment, nor would we need to in order to realise that this is a plausible outcome,” Col. Tucker “Cinco” Hamilton, the USAF’s Chief of AI Test and Operations, said in a quote included in the Royal Aeronautical Society’s statement. “Despite this being a hypothetical example, this illustrates the real-world challenges posed by AI-powered capability and is why the Air Force is committed to the ethical development of AI”
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