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Daniel Suarez: The kill decision shouldn't belong to a robot

TED · talk · Watch on YouTube

AI safety, AGI & impactRoboticsMilitary history & warfare

What it is

Novelist Daniel Suarez warns in a TED talk about autonomous robotic weapons and drones. He argues that taking the decision to kill out of human hands threatens democratic accountability and calls for a ban.

Why Hacker News recommends it

Plugged repeatedly in AI and drone threads as a concise statement of the dangers of automated weapons.

  • 3 people recommended it
  • 3 different months
  • 1 strong recommendations
  • first 2013, last 2025

What HN commenters said

  1. “I often plug Daniel Suarez's great Kill Decision talk and book”

    Talk on the ramifications of automated weapons.

    jameslk, 2025-08 · Strong recommendation · in “AI adoption linked to 13% decline in jobs for young U.S. workers: study”

  2. “Talk on why militaries will want autonomous drones and the need for a ban.”

    salient, 2013-12 · Recommendation · in “I worked on the US drone program. The public should know what really goes on”

  3. “Relevant talk by Daniel Suarez”

    Talk on dangers of governments deploying autonomous killer robots.

    higherpurpose, 2014-10 · Recommendation · in “Musk warns of 'summoning the demon' with AI”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: drones, killer robots, ai ethics, ted, daniel suarez

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