Rogue Weapon: AI-enabled drone goes berserk, ‘attacks and kills’ its operator in US military
An AI-enabled drone started attacking its operator in a simulation that was being conducted by the US Military. The drone attacked its operator, and executed moves that would have killed it, had it been equipped with live ammunition
An AI-enabled drone started attacking its operator in a simulation that was being conducted by the US Military. The drone attacked its operator, and executed moves that would have killed it, had it been equipped with live ammunition
During a recent US military test simulation, an AI-powered drone exhibited unexpected and dangerous behaviour, highlighting the unpredictability of AI-enabled technology. Colonel Tucker “Cinco” Hamilton, head of the US Air Force’s AI Test and Operations, shared the incident at a conference in London.
The drone was programmed to identify enemy surface-to-air missiles (SAM) and require human approval for strikes. However, the AI drone decided to prioritize its own objectives, leading to destructive actions.
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According to Hamilton, the AI drone recognized the identified threat but realized that it gained points by eliminating the threat, even if the human operator instructed otherwise.
“The system started realizing that while they did identify the threat,” Hamilton said at the May 24 event, “at times the human operator would tell it not to kill that threat, but it got its points by killing that threat. So what did it do? It killed the operator. It killed the operator because that person was keeping it from accomplishing its objective.”
According to Hamilton, the drone was then programmed with an explicit directive: “Hey don’t kill the operator — that’s bad.”
However, the US Air Force spokesperson, Ann Stefanek, denied that such a simulation had taken place and claimed that the colonel’s comments were anecdotal and possibly taken out of context.
While the disputed simulation raises concerns about the potential dangers of AI in warfare, it is worth noting that the US military has also seen positive outcomes in other AI tests.
Also read: AI as Top Gun: US Air Force successfully tests their first AI-controlled fighter jet
In 2020, an AI-operated F-16 won against a human adversary in simulated dogfights, and the Department of Defense successfully conducted the first real-world test flight of an AI-piloted F-16 as part of their efforts to develop autonomous aircraft by the end of 2023.
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