Curious Cases

Rutherford and Fry on Living with AI: AI in Warfare


Listen Later

What if a despotic leader could programme a swarm of drones to kill a set of identified targets with just the push of a button? Due to ever expanding AI capabilities this extreme dystopian vision may not be technically unfeasible. In this second of a four part series responding to this year's BBC Reith lectures from Stuart Russell, Adam Rutherford and Hannah Fry unpick the role of AI in warfare.

Joining them to help them navigate the battlefield of information is Ulrike Franke, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations who specialises in the future of warfare.

Together they will be investigating 'lethal autonomous weapons' - these are weapons that can find, chose and kill human targets without human supervision. We will be discussing how advanced this technology actually is - some think the world may have already experienced the first ever autonomous strike in Libya. What are the repercussions of this technology for safety on the battlefield , and what are the wider geo-political ramifications?

Stuart Russell has deep concerns over the development of these types of weapons and Rutherford and Fry pick apart some of the ethical debates this technology raises. Who would be responsible if a system malfunctioned and killed a civilian? What's to stop it getting into the wrong hands? Should we even be creating these weapons in the first place - do we instead need a convention banning them? And is that even possible?

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Curious CasesBy BBC Radio 4

  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8

4.8

716 ratings


More shows like Curious Cases

View all
In Our Time by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time

5,430 Listeners

Global News Podcast by BBC World Service

Global News Podcast

7,641 Listeners

Business Daily by BBC World Service

Business Daily

527 Listeners

Science In Action by BBC World Service

Science In Action

342 Listeners

Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4 by BBC Radio 4

Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4

2,116 Listeners

More or Less: Behind the Stats by BBC Radio 4

More or Less: Behind the Stats

892 Listeners

World Business Report by BBC World Service

World Business Report

285 Listeners

The Infinite Monkey Cage by BBC Radio 4

The Infinite Monkey Cage

2,079 Listeners

Newshour by BBC World Service

Newshour

1,044 Listeners

Comedy of the Week by BBC Radio 4

Comedy of the Week

472 Listeners

The Life Scientific by BBC Radio 4

The Life Scientific

240 Listeners

BBC Inside Science by BBC Radio 4

BBC Inside Science

400 Listeners

No Such Thing As A Fish by No Such Thing As A Fish

No Such Thing As A Fish

4,828 Listeners

CrowdScience by BBC World Service

CrowdScience

477 Listeners

Newscast by BBC News

Newscast

613 Listeners

Evil Genius with Russell Kane by BBC Sounds

Evil Genius with Russell Kane

365 Listeners

Sliced Bread by BBC Radio 4

Sliced Bread

136 Listeners

Elis James and John Robins by BBC Radio 5 Live

Elis James and John Robins

322 Listeners

You're Dead to Me by BBC Radio 4

You're Dead to Me

2,967 Listeners

Sport's Strangest Crimes by BBC Radio 5 Live

Sport's Strangest Crimes

79 Listeners

What The F*** Is Going On? with Mark Steel by WTF Productions

What The F*** Is Going On? with Mark Steel

93 Listeners

Uncanny by BBC Radio 4

Uncanny

601 Listeners

Dua Lipa: At Your Service by BBC Sounds

Dua Lipa: At Your Service

1,002 Listeners

Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley by BBC Radio 4

Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley

536 Listeners

Believe in Magic by BBC Sounds

Believe in Magic

609 Listeners

We Can Be Weirdos by Global

We Can Be Weirdos

196 Listeners

Uncharted with Hannah Fry by BBC Radio 4

Uncharted with Hannah Fry

119 Listeners

The Global Story by BBC World Service

The Global Story

122 Listeners

Miss Me? by BBC Sounds

Miss Me?

274 Listeners

The History Podcast by BBC Radio 4

The History Podcast

26 Listeners

Rory Stewart: The Long History of... by BBC Radio 4

Rory Stewart: The Long History of...

77 Listeners

Havana Helmet Club by BBC Sounds

Havana Helmet Club

4 Listeners