[yawpitch]

Uh, pretty sure it’s already happened, if by “robot” you mean programmed (but not necessarily independently mobile) automaton / machine, by “autonomous” you mean not under the direct and realtime control of a human operator, and by “deliberately” you mean ML came up with a > 0.5 certainty that the target met its targeting criteria.

Doubt a robot will ever actually deliberate, but that’s more of a philosophical issue.

[hollerith]

I took the title to mean that human commanders will deliberately choose to deploy an autonomous robot configured to kill a person or persons (as opposed to a robot's killing a person, but the death was unwanted and unforeseen by the commanders).

[yawpitch]

Yeah, my point is that’s kinda already been done, if we include modern “smart” landmines and loitering munitions. Honestly, I think this threshold is arguably behind us, but I’d also say if it isn’t it will be in a lot less than a decade.

[potato3732842]

My money is on automated AA systems near some inland border where commercial flights just so happen to never go nabbing a crop duster, surveying aircraft or SAR/med chopper because some comedy of errors resulted in the device getting put on way too hair trigger of a setting.

[tim333]

Human operated AA systems regularly shoot down the wrong thing so unless the automated systems are much better than us it seems pretty certain.