A tech boss claims fully autonomous 'Terminator' AI drones have hunted and killed enemy troops for the first time in Ukraine, sparking major ethical fears. The terrifying experiment is understood to have taken place during a Ukrainian counteroffensive near Bakhmut and Chasiv Yar.
Autonomous Attack Details
According to reports, a pack of ten robotic quadcopters was unleashed on the front lines of the Ukraine war. The machines were sent into enemy territory, hunting down and killing Russian soldiers without a human ever pulling a trigger. The drones were programmed to fly up to five kilometres over enemy trenches completely solo. Once they reached the target area, they activated a deadly 'Terminator mode' to seek and destroy everything in their path.
No Human Oversight
Because the drones completely severed ties with their handlers, commanders back at base had no idea what the machines were doing. Human-piloted spy drones had to be flown into the aftermath later to count the bodies and survey the destruction. Drone-maker Alexander Kokhanovskyy supplied the tech and confirmed it was a restricted, one-off test. He admitted that once launched, the team had no video feed or connection, knowing simply that everything in that specific area would be killed.
Ethical Concerns
The jaw-dropping admission is the most definitive evidence in history of humans being hunted and killed solely by an algorithm. While militaries worldwide use AI to track targets, a human operator is almost always required to confirm a lethal strike. United Nations officials and ethical experts have strongly condemned the rise of independent AI weapons. Experts fear that removing human judgment could lead to catastrophic errors, such as machines slaughtering civilians or turning on their own side.
Future of AI in Warfare
While Ukraine's Ministry of Defence currently bans AI from making independent lethal decisions, the tech boss is lobbying to change the rules. The project is currently on ice, but Kokhanovskyy admitted he would love to see the restrictions lifted to unleash the AI's full potential.
