Parents' Guide to Unknown: Killer Robots

This documentary offers a terrifying look at how advanced artificial intelligence and robotics have become and how these technologies might drastically change weaponry and war in the future. In many ways, Unknown: Killer Robots signals a call for everyone to be aware of what's going on in terms of what AI and autonomous machines can actually do. For example, machines, robotics, and AI programs can decide how to go about finding a target and can further decide whether or not to strike that target (despite calls for a ban against such technology). Increasingly, the need for a human controller is disappearing, and nowhere is that more felt than in advancements in AI learning for fighter jets. Clearly, the need for human pilots is no longer necessary because AI can pilot fighter jets and win any dogfight with any human easily.

Drone technology, reconnaissance, weapons and bombs, and even chemical weapon warfare are all seeing huge gains in AI integration. But, as the documentary warns, nations, governments, and militaries are far more concerned with being ahead of the pack instead of being concerned about general safety, ethics, and what these technologies might bring about unwittingly. Perhaps most concerning is the paper and work published by Sean Ekins' team that found that it's incredibly easy to generate new kinds of toxic molecules (that lead to chemical weapons like nerve agents such as VX). This is the kind of documentary that everyone should watch -- but also, maybe not everyone, as it might give bad actors new ideas about how to damage and terrify the world.