As the price of robotic technology drops and innovations expand their use into our homes and hospitals, scientists and legal scholars are convening to anticipate the legal, social, and ethical consequences of the coming robot revolution.

A recent report from the Hastings Center and the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars argue that because emerging technologies are not diverging from one another but converging, researchers should pursue an ethics of emerging technologies.

An international debate is needed on the use of autonomous military robots, a leading academic has said. Noel Sharkey of the University of Sheffield said that a push toward more robotic technology used in warfare would put civilian life at grave risk.

A panel of 25 AI scientists, roboticists, and ethical and legal scholars has been convened to address the issues involved with the rapid growth of artificial intelligence.

A group of scientists has gathered at Asilomar, California to discuss whether there should be limits on research that might lead to loss of human control over computer-based systems that carry a growing share of society’s workload. In 1975, a group of scientists met at the same location for a groundbreaking discussion on self-regulation of the emerging field of genetic engineering.

Ronald Arkin, a professor of computer science at Georgia Tech, is in the first stages of developing an "ethical governor," a package of software and hardware that tells robots when and what to fire. He argues not only can robots be programmed to behave more ethically on the battlefield, they may actually be able to respond better than human soldiers.

The author discusses the problems with government attempts to control biological technologies and introduces a joint Berkeley-industry project to develop improved DNA screening software, virulence databases, and advice portals for use by scientists as an indication of how scientists are attempting to self-police their field.

Autonomous military robots that will fight future wars must be programmed to live by a strict warrior code or the world risks untold atrocities at their steely hands.

Top robotics expert Professor Noel Sharkey, of the University of Sheffield, has called for international guidelines to be set for the ethical and safe application of robots before it is too late.

In the heat of battle, their minds clouded by fear, anger or vengefulness, even the best-trained soldiers can act in ways that violate the Geneva Conventions or battlefield rules of engagement. Now some researchers suggest that robots could do better.