A new UN security report claims that an incident last year was the first time drones autonomously attacked humans, marking another step toward our defeat by the machines.
From Popular Mechanics:
The world's first recorded case of an autonomous drone attacking humans took place in March 2020, according to a United Nations (UN) security report detailing the ongoing Second Libyan Civil War. Libyan forces used the Turkish-made drones to "hunt down" and jam retreating enemy forces, preventing them from using their own drones.
Since Obama decided to yeet Muammar Gaddafi out of existence as part of his disastrous foreign policy schemes (does anyone remember Benghazi anymore?), Libya has been entrenched in civil war.
In 2012, a transitional congress was appointed, but – surprise, surprise! – they didn't give up power when their term came to an end.
A mix of factions have emerged in the ensuing chaos, from jihadis who want to create another Islamic State to Khalifa Haftar, the Libyan Field Marshall who had opposed Gaddafi.
Haftar's forces (HAF) were the ones reportedly attacked by the drones – and this involved not only electronic jamming, but "lethal autonomous weapons."
The offenders belonged to the faction backed by the UN, the Government of National Accord (GNA).
Logistics convoys and retreating HAF were subsequently hunted down and remotely engaged by the unmanned combat aerial vehicles or the lethal autonomous weapons systems such as the STM Kargu-2 (above) and other loitering munitions. The lethal autonomous weapons systems were programmed to attack targets without requiring data connectivity between the operator and the munition: in effect, a true "fire, forget and find" capability.
Turkey's sale of said weapon's systems was in violation of a UN arms embargo, but nobody cares what the UN thinks these days.
Here's a video showing the Kargu-2 (meaning "hawk") drone sold by Turkish defense contractor STM. Watch the end where the drone swoops down on targets and detonates:
All this drone needs from human operators is a general area to fly toward, then it can automatically target people it deems hostile and dive bomb them, exploding when it gets close enough.
Think about that: Drones can now automatically kill us.
What do you think happens when terrorists like Hamas get that tech and start unloading it willy nilly on random civilians?
The Kargu-2 indeed looks like any other quadcopter drone. The major difference is the software, which might be difficult to obtain from scattered bits of plastic for forensic analysis. This raises the question: Could military forces modify civilian drones into human-hunting counterparts to attack civilians?
What happens when the technology gets even more efficient at making its own decisions?
The events in Libya may similarly divide the time when humans had full control of weapons, and a time when machines made their own decisions to kill.
I guess it's time to pick your favorite doomsday franchise!
Are we going to be obliterated Terminator-style?
Will the machines find use for us as living batteries hooked up to the Matrix?
Will Hydra be able to control the machines and use them to execute millions?
Or will we continue to live as oblivious pawns in the games of competing AI systems that control world governments?
