According to CNET, robotics engineer Ronald Arkin of the Georgia Institute of Technology has just finished a three-year contract with the US Army designing software to create ethical robots. He said his proof of concept software is a decade or two away from being used.
Each robot is embedded with internationally prescribed laws of war and rules of engagement, such as those in the Geneva Conventions.
Arkin has been embeding robotic soldiers with moral "emotion" of guilt. This downgrades the robots' ability to engage targets if it is acting in ways which exceed the predicted battle damage in certain circumstances.
He argues that giving them a guilt trip makes them better at avoiding civilian casualties than human soldiers.
Specifically he has built a component called an "ethical adaptor" by studying the models of guilt that human beings have and embedding those within a robotic system. The robot can eventually refuse to use certain classes of weapons systems if it gets to a point where the predictions it's making are unacceptable by its own standards.
The robots can be programmed with information that allows them to avoid areas where civilians may be, like cemeteries, hospitals and apartment buildings.
Arkin said that robots could be more humane than humans on the battlefield. Of course if they are forced to obey orders we guess they will need some sort of counselling if they accidently burn a baby or two. µ