These Are Not the Drones We Expected: The Role Engineering Plays in Ethics

A barren wasteland lay ahead: war and masses of droids came over the horizon, a soft rumble pulsing through the ground. With their tan metal bodies and guns strapped across their chests, the droids marched toward an army of Jedi and clones that awaited the incoming destruction. Under the intergalactic system, the opposition’s greatest strength becomes the basis of its devastation. In a fundamentally avaricious manner, the assets each party brought forward forced millions to live under belligerent conditions in an attempt to deter thousands of planetary systems from seceding from the Galactic Republic and conforming to the Separatist Party.

I always thought of war in the ‘Star Wars’ sense. In Star Wars, droids lacked intelligence, whereas seemingly dispensable clones underwent training from their creation to be war heroes, capable of strategic combat. This extensive training provides an answer to the question of why robots have not been used in high scale combat—yet. Plainly, a clone takes many years to become intelligent and experienced. With the advance of artificial intelligence and machine learning, however, there is no doubt that machinery can compute and create perspicacious war strategies and execute them accordingly in a relatively short period. Simply put, there is the potential for autonomous drones being developed to save human lives, reduce human deaths, and avoid human conflict. Using automated, robotic combat, however, introduces the ethical issue of machinery malfunction and unmonitored violence against human beings by intelligent hardware.

According to a United Nations report in March 2020, a Kargu-2 quadcopter autonomously attacked a person during a conflict between Libyan government forces and a breakaway military faction. The quadcopter is an unmanned platform that acts autonomously in battle areas and leverages deep learning, advanced computer vision, and machine learning techniques, even when no data communication is available. This Turkish machinery was designed as a mechanism to fight against terrorism, a vague, convoluted term that is intended to ‘affirm’ the need for this technology in the name of public safety. Its primary method of obstruction is to proceed into a nose dive, detonate upon impact, and kill its target through the shards from the blast. The New York Post reported that the drone was operating in a “'highly effective’ autonomous mode that required no human controller.” This situation requires the urgency of conversation centred around intelligent unmanned systems, especially from an ethical stance.

The development of these “killer robots” presents issues that persist across the globe, as models have been designed, manufactured, and deployed in countries such as the United States, China, Israel, and Russia. “Killer robots” utilize electrical engines and sophisticated applications of computer science. Their development is the epitome of a failure to comply with engineering principles and the mission of humanity-focused building. In violating such terms, the development of this technology should not be established any further.

According to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)’s Code of Ethics of Engineers, engineers advance the dignity of the engineering profession by “using their knowledge and skill for the enhancement of human welfare.” In order to enhance quality of life, parties must put aside personal benefits and focus on the collective; they need to do what is right. After all, there is a difference between a human being and being human.

The Kargu-2 quadcopter, designed to detonate at a target enemy, is “likely the first time drones have attacked humans without instructions to do so.” Cognitive engineering of the droids with the intelligence to execute commands is of utmost concern. With international, non-governmental bodies like the Human Rights Watch calling for a “preemptive ban on the development, production, and use of fully autonomous weapons”, it is evident that preventative measures should be taken. In accordance with engineering ethics, fully autonomous drones beg the question of target misidentification, competence, and precision. The engineers working in companies that focus on military warfare and creation, whose purpose is to serve a larger defence administrative market, are not necessarily adhering to their code of conducts. According to the ASME, professional engineers are required to stay true to the values of human welfare. Companies like the Savunma Teknolojileri ve Mühendislik A.Ş (STM), which generate such trivial droids, operate more on their own beliefs than those of engineering societies, yet every engineer’s moral compass must be aware of the negative potential of such impactful technologies. For companies that prioritize profit, a code of conduct often revolves around making money, regardless of what is morally correct. Further, adhering to the ASME’s Code of Ethics of Engineers, every engineer “should hold paramount the safety and welfare of the public.” The advancement of unmanned drone technology clearly opposes the first fundamental canon, in which the safety of humanity is threatened. From cognitive responses without human control to effective detonation and murder, “killer drones” have created conversation about the stance engineers should take when supporting the development of autonomous drones with the power to execute dangerous tasks. If an engineer abides by the code of ethics, they should recognize that it violates the principles of public safety and instead worships capitalism and greed. Therefore, it is best assumed that the development of drones with the capability to execute autonomous military commands should be prohibited. It places an inherent risk to the safety of individuals in war-stricken zones, where oftentimes, innocent citizens pay the consequences of conflict. In such scenarios, innocent individuals must fear attack from small drones, bombs, and soldiers. Considering the trauma survivors must face and an ever-expanding technological world, issues like PTSD could arise in the future that cause mistrust between humans and robots. To avoid such a dilemma, engineers should uphold the principles of moral engineering, which are guided by a compass based on “what is appropriate” and “what is right.”

The ASME’s Code of Ethics of Engineers attempts to uphold a standard by which humanity is best served. This constant endeavor to morally guide engineers as they complete projects that have the potential to change the world, truly works to construct a more humane society. With the world spiralling toward protecting its countries, military-focused companies aim to deploy robots that possess the intelligence to preserve “anti-terrorist” ideals. Although technologies using AI and computer vision have considerably advanced in exciting ways, it raises the question of “developing for humanity.” As the Kargu-2 quadcopter delved into a deep nose dive, locked on to the rogue being, and detonated within seconds of reaching its maximum velocity, the engineering principles that governed it and the computer science matrices that allowed it to execute its task have all sparked conversation regarding autonomous vehicles of defence.

In Tatooine, Mandalore, Naboo, or any other planet of battle, droids no longer serve a military purpose. Those war-ridden planets, of course, are different; the droids there are metal-heads and absolutely useless strategically. Today, however, drones are competent and adept, implementing intense computer science and engineering fundamentals that allow for precision and intelligence. Although great advances have been made, according to engineering morals, autonomous drones must be deemed morally unacceptable as they pose a threat to society if uncontrolled by a human being.

References

[1] Zitser, J. (2021, May 30). A Rogue Killer Drone ‘hunted down’ a human target without being instructed to, UN report says. Business Insider. Retrieved February 26, 2022, from https://www.businessinsider.com/killer-drone-hunted-down-human-target-without-being-told-un-2021-5?utm_source=tldrnewsletterology

[2] American Society of Mechanical Engineers. (n.d.). American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Code of Ethics of Engineers. Retrieved February 26, 2022, from https://personal.egr.uri.edu/asme/documents/Code%20of%20Ethics.pdf

[3] Killer Robots: Urgent need to fast-track talks. Human Rights Watch. (2021, August 2). Retrieved February 26, 2022, from https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/08/02/killer-robots-urgent-need-fast-track-talks

[4] , D. (2021, September 20). U.S. Army orders of the pocket-sized drones top $85 million. Interesting Engineering. Retrieved February 26, 2022, from https://interestingengineering.com/us-army-awards-pocket-sized-drones-206-million-contract