Controversy around the Samsung SGR-A1

From: Wikipedia

The development of the Samsung SGR-A1 (and LAWS in general) has sparked considerable controversy regarding their effect on aggression between states, the issue on ethics of autonomous killing, and innocent killings through collateral damage.

"Human in/on the loop" controversy

A human-in-the-loop (HITL) system, if applied to the Samsung SGR-A1, would mean the weapon must wait for commands from a human operator before acting upon its targets. This contrasts with a human on the loop (HOTL) system, which would allow the Samsung SGR-A1 to autonomously engage targets while allowing for human intervention to stop it. Opposition groups against the use of the Samsung SGR-A1 and laws including the Committee on International Security and Arms Control and Human Rights Watch believe the Samsung SGR-A1 has HOTL capabilities, and would ultimately increase civilian casualties and lower the threshold for going to war.

Primary arguments by anti-LAWS groups

• LAWS are unethical because humans are no longer involved in the act of killing, which absents morality from warfare by ultimately pitting a machine against a human.

• LAWS increase the risk of conflict and war by shifting risks from the nation's soldiers to machines, which distances civilians from war and thus changes how the military and government think about going to war.

• LAWS introduce a difficulty of assigning responsibility and accountability if scenarios including civilian casualties and violation of international law arise.[7]

Many of these opposing arguments, however, are based on the idea that the Samsung SGR-A1 is a truly autonomous, HOTL system, which has been a heavily disputed topic. A 2008 study, done by California Polytechnic State University's Naval Department, suggested that the Samsung SGR-A1 is a fully autonomous system and reports by major news outlets including The Atlantic, BBC, and NBC also confirm their conclusion. A quote from the report reads, "The firing of the gun can be done manually by a soldier or by the robot in fully-automatic (autonomous) mode." Despite published studies confirming the weapon's autonomy, Samsung Techwin has openly denied that the Samsung SGR-A1 has autonomous functionality. In a 2010 response to a Popular Science article regarding the autonomy of the Samsung SGR-A1, Samsung Techwin Spokesperson, Huh Kwang-hak stated "the robots, while having the capability of automatic surveillance, cannot automatically fire at detected foreign objects or figures.