Tell President Biden: No Robot Fighter Jets;
No to Any Other Autonomous Weapons
Robert Weissman / Public Citizen

(May 8, 2024) – Are you ready for robot fighter jets?

As we speak, the United States Air Force is testing F-16 fighter jets controlled by artificial intelligence — even conducting training dogfights in American airspace between aircraft “piloted” by AI and those with human crews.

The Air Force says it will deploy armed, automated, uncrewed fighter jets in as little as six years.

Corporate America has so far failed — calamitously — to produce safe and reliable “self-driving” cars.

But we’re supposed to believe the military-industrial complex can get it right with fighter jets that cost tens (or even hundreds) of millions of dollars, rip through the atmosphere at supersonic speeds, and can be armed with devastatingly powerful air-to-surface missiles?

This is just one example of a perverse “gold rush” underway right now throughout the military-industrial complex, with tech companies veritably salivating at the prospect of untold billions to be made from the Pentagon’s infatuation with using robots and artificial intelligence in America’s military operations.

THE LETTER
To President Joe Biden:

Even if they work as intended, autonomous weapons inherently dehumanize the people targeted and make it easier to tolerate widespread killing. American use of autonomous weapons will also spark a new arms race — guaranteed to make the world more dangerous and with no “winner.”

It is also highly likely that things won’t go as intended — for example, racial bias and mistaken targeting of civilians are a near certainty. And those are just the risks we can foresee.

As commander-in-chief, you should direct Pentagon officials not to develop or deploy robot fighter jets or other autonomous weapons.

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Thanks for taking action.
For peace,
Robert Weissman, President of Public Citizen

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