autonomous weapons are not 10 years from now, they are right now!

Technology has moved faster and faster ever since the steam engine. In the 1950s most of us thought it was the right speed because the speed wasn't out of control yet. It was then at a more manageable speed of change. However, it has now speeded up 10, 100, or 1000 times because innovations spawn new innovations at lightning speeds. So, there is no time now to get ethical or moral about the whole thing before 100s to thousands of people have died from autonomous weapons as they already have.

Maybe a way to look at it better is to look at all the millions of people who died in World War II. (50 to 100 million people) or the up to 100 million people who died in the Cold War from 1945 to 1990 worldwide. Could anyone have imagined the carnage of World war II in 1937 or 1938? I don't think so. I would say we are at a similar place in the terrorist war.

I don't think it is between the terrorists and civilization winning. The real test is whether ANY civilization will be left at all 20 to 50 years from now. This is a more realistic assessment of what is coming actually right now. The terrorists cannot win. They can only lose. It is civilization itself though that can lose here on earth. This is the problem.

Unfortunately, the AI genie is already out of the bottle. What this means in real terms is if the U.S. and Europe don't develop it China and Russia are sure to and after that, North Korea, Iran and terrorist states of the future.

So, in some ways even if most civilized nations signed treaties to abolish 3rd generation weapons other states would not. It's sort of like Cluster bombs. Some nations have outlawed them but Russia and Saudi Arabia haven't. Because like AI, Cluster bombs are a genocidal tool where whole cities of people can be depopulated overnight like they have done in Syria. And it was done by Russia and sometimes by Assad's troops too. In Yemen it is the Houthis who are cluster bombed by Saudi Arabia. However, I don't really blame Saudi Arabia for this. I blame Iran who is arming the Houthis against Saudi Arabia. So, all these many weapons like cluster bombs and (soon to be) AI weaponry are all genocidal weapons the way they presently are used by countries like Syria, Russia and Saudi Arabia already. So, AI genocidal Tools that are 3rd generation will likely be the genocidal tools of the future used to wipe out religious or ethnic groups worldwide. Sometimes with no trace of human actions whatsoever.