VOA慢速英语2012 TECHNOLOGY REPORT - Rights Group Calls for Ban on Fully Autonomous Killer Robots

TECHNOLOGY REPORT - Rights Group Calls for Ban on Fully 1 Autonomous 2 Killer 3 Robots

科技报道 - 人权组织呼吁禁止全自主式杀人机器人

From VOA Learning English, this is the TECHNOLOGY REPORT in Special English.

这里是美国之音慢速英语科技报道。

An international rights group has called on world governments to ban fully autonomous weapon systems. Human Rights Watch recently released a report called, “Losing Humanity: The Case against Killer Robots.” It warns that fully autonomous systems could increase risk to civilians 4 during armed conflict.

人权观察组织呼吁世界各国政府禁止全自主式武器系统。这家国际人权组织最近发布了一份名为《失去人性：反对杀人机器人》的报告。报告警告说，全自主式武器系统在武装冲突中可能会增加对平民的危险。

Militaries around the world are increasingly using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, also called drones, in modern warfare 5. They say drones make war safer and more effective. The machines can gather intelligence, help identify targets, and provide deadly force - but only if a human operator gives the order.

世界各地的军队在现代战争中越来越多地使用无人机。他们表示，无人机使得战争更安全高效。这种机器可以搜集情报，帮助确定目标，并提供致命武器，但除非人类操作员下达命令。

Human Rights Watch fears that within 30 years developments in technology could remove the need for human operators. David Mepham is the United Kingdom director of Human Rights Watch.

人权观察组织担心在30年内科技发展可能会取消人工操作的必要性。David Mepham是人权观察组织英国负责人。

"One of the things that holds us back from barbarism in contexts of war obviously this distinction between combatants and civilians and we are worried about a robotic weapon of the future not being able to distinguish between a child holding out an ice cream and someone holding a weapon."

“在战争场合中使得我们脱离野蛮战争的事情之一显然是战士和平民之间的区分。我们担心未来的机器人武器不能区分拿着冰激凌的小孩和拿着武器的人。”

The United States and other militaries have stated they have no plans to remove human supervision 6 over the decision to use deadly force.

美国和其它国家的军队已经表示，他们没有计划在决定使用致命武器上取消人类的监管。

Human Rights Watch says a treaty would help to guarantee that this does not happen. The group says a ban on what it calls “killer robots” would be similar to current bans on the use of landmines 7 and cluster bombs.

人权观察组织表示，条约将有助于确保这种情况不会发生。该组织表示，对所谓“杀人机器人”的禁令将类似目前对地雷和集束炸弹使用的禁令。

Hugo Rosemont is an independent security expert in Britain. He says discussions about the future of autonomous technology should not be limited to its military uses.

雨果·罗斯蒙特（Hugo Rosemont）是英国一名独立安全专家。他表示，关于未来自主科技的讨论不应该局限于它的军事用途。

"There also needs to be a public discussion around some of the wider applications, such as in the use of disaster management and humanitarian 8 relief."

“围绕灾害管理和人道救援这类更广泛的应用也需要进行公开讨论。”

For example, France sent remote-controlled robots to Japan last year to help contain the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima power center. This was a job that most people would agree was better left to machines.

例如，去年法国向日本派遣遥控机器人帮助遏制福岛核电站的核灾难。这是一项多数人都会同意最好留给机器人处理的工作。

In a separate but related story, airplane passengers could soon take to the air without a pilot on the plane. In the next few weeks, a group in Britain will carry out test flights of a Jetstream 31 passenger airplane. A pilot on the ground will control the plane through its autonomous flight system. Safety pilots will be on the aircraft to make sure everything operates correctly.

在一件独立但相关的事件中，飞机乘客可以很快在飞机上没有飞行员的情况下飞上天空。在接下来的几个星期内，英国一个小组将进行Jetstream 31客机的飞行试验。一名地面飞行员将通过其自主飞行系统控制这架飞机。安全飞行员将在飞机上确保一切操作正常。

The tests will show how well the plane navigates 9 and follows the orders it receives from the ground.

这次测试将展示这家飞机导航和执行其接收到的地面命令有多成功。

The Autonomous Systems Technology Related Airborne Evalutaion and Assessment 10 group is leading the project. The flights are set to leave from the Warton Aerodrome in Lancashire, England.

与航空评估有关的自主式系统技术小组负责这一项目。该航班预定从英国兰开夏郡的沃顿机场起飞。