Human beings have been fighting each other since prehistoric times, and people have been discussing the rights and wrongs of it for almost as long. The purpose of war ethics is to help decide what is right or wrong, both for individuals and countries, and to contribute to debates on public policy, and ultimately to government and individual action.


War ethics also leads to the creation of formal codes of war (e.g. the Hague and Geneva conventions), the drafting and implementation of rules of engagement for soldiers, and in the punishment of soldiers and others for war crimes. How can the media make a meaningful contribution to answer the following three key questions?

Is it ever right to go to war?

When is it right to wage war?

What is the moral way to conduct a war?

Modern computer technology in connection with the development of unmanned fighting machines on the ground, in the air and under the sea makes the problem even more pressing: can the decision over life and death be left to machines who "are not bright enough to be called stupid" as Noel Sharkey, one of the leading robot and artificial intelligence experts puts it. Sharkey goes on to explain that "[the U.S.] Congress has set a goal of having one-third of ground combat vehicles unmanned by 2015. Over 4,000 robots are serving in Iraq at present, others in Afghanistan. And now they are armed."

Hosted by Deutsche Welle

 

Panel:

Hans-Jeorg Kreowski, Chair of the Forum Computer Professionals for Peace and Social Responsibility 

 

Noel Sharkey, Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Expert

 

Jürgen Altmann, Physicist and peace researcher.  

Thursday, 4 June 2009, 11:30 a.m., Pumpenhaus