News from Settle

For Release 24 April, 9:35 am, AEST

KAIST’s ‘Killer robots’?

South Korea university’s rumored cooperation with defense

company on autonomous weapons
[Daejeon][24 April]
KAIST, also known as the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology,
is a prestigious research university located in Daejeon, South Korea. rumors of
KAIST opening an AI weapons lab in collaboration with a major arms company
which builds cluster munitions in contravention of UN bans. The main concern
the research community has is that autonomous weapons will be the third
revolution in warfare. They will permit war to be fought faster and at a scale
greater than ever before and have the potential to be weapons of terror.
Despots and terrorists could use them against innocent populations, removing
any ethical restraints. “We apologize that the use of AI in military has sparked
fears of a terminator-like situation and questions have been raised about the
accuracy of such weapons. We admitted that the purpose of this project is to
focus on the development of algorithms for defense industry distribution
systems, unmanned aviation, intelligence flight training systems and tracking
platform. However, since the assure concern about AI weapons may be violate
international norms.” said Julia, the manager of Settle. “We are truly sorry for
the fears that we have made, and promised that our university does not have
any intention to engage in development of lethal autonomous weapons systems
and killer robots.”
“As an academic institution, we value human rights and ethical standard to a
very high degree. And we will focus on academic purposes, reduce the cost
and maintain national defense force. We would like to commit to maintaining
the utmost transparency in our research and would from here on seek to build
better relations with both the general public and the media to ensure that it is
so. We would like to reaffirm once again that our university will not conduct any
research activities that raises any form of ethical ambiguity or danger to lives
all across the world.”

Established in 1971, KAIST has always been at the forefront of the nation’s
strategic technological advancements. It aims to foster elite Human Resources
in science and technology to support the rapid development and
industrialization of South Korea. As an educational institution, KAIST aims to
develop individuals who possess the will to pioneer research in new fields, a
desire to contribute to nation and society, but most importantly, upholds ethics
values while having great consideration for mankind and the environment.

“I would like to reaffirm that KAIST does not have any intention to engage in
development of lethal autonomous weapons systems and killer robots,” said
Kai Chul-Shin, the KAIST’s president. “KAIST values human rights and ethical
standards to a very high degree. I reaffirms once again that KAIST will not
conduct any research activities counter to human dignity including autonomous
weapons lacking meaningful human control.”

Moving forward, the mutual trust shared between KAIST, the research
community and citizens all over the world is of paramount importance to the
institution. Hence, we are planning to start newsletters and initiate a revamp of
our website. Both mediums will seek to engage the world with KAIST’s activities
and research development in hopes of establishing better understanding
between KAIST and the world.

Press enquiries
For more information, please call [+61 456789012] or email [Julia Lin] at
[melin@settle.com].