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0 pointsadastra221y ago0 comments

For clarity, cluster munitions and mines are banned because they kill indiscriminately and pose cleanup hazards.

Chemical and biological weapons are banned because, like nukes, escalation of their use results in a scorched earth scenario.

0 comments

TeMPOraL1y ago

Also, in case of top tier of biological weapon, even a single strike - or a single accident - has potentially unlimited area of effect, up to and including the entire planet.

Remember COVID-19? Whether you believe in it being natural or a lab leak, it is a good model of how a handling mishap with a mediocre bioweapon would look like.

adastra22OP1y ago

Better bioweapons would potentially be more targeted, and/or have reproductive clocks that disable them after a certain number of generations. But you absolutely run the risk of them evolving away from such restrictions.

ben_w1y ago

My understanding is that such a bioweapon cannot be created with current technology.

We know such things are possible, but we can't actually do them.

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YeGoblynQueenne1y ago

Very big conventional bombs also have similar effects and yet they are not banned, so that's not the difference. The difference is in the way people are killed.

master_crab1y ago

Based on this article it looks like AI kills indiscriminately.

adastra22OP1y ago

Pedantic but important point: an IDF officer signs off on the strike, and it is carried out by an IDF soldier. The AI is not doing the killing.

The scandal is more that (surprise, surprise) the human oversight isn’t doing its job and the soldiers just follow orders.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

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TeMPOraL1y ago

Also, in case of top tier of biological weapon, even a single strike - or a single accident - has potentially unlimited area of effect, up to and including the entire planet.

Remember COVID-19? Whether you believe in it being natural or a lab leak, it is a good model of how a handling mishap with a mediocre bioweapon would look like.

adastra22OP1y ago

ben_w1y ago

My understanding is that such a bioweapon cannot be created with current technology.

We know such things are possible, but we can't actually do them.

1 more reply

YeGoblynQueenne1y ago

Very big conventional bombs also have similar effects and yet they are not banned, so that's not the difference. The difference is in the way people are killed.

master_crab1y ago

Based on this article it looks like AI kills indiscriminately.

adastra22OP1y ago

Pedantic but important point: an IDF officer signs off on the strike, and it is carried out by an IDF soldier. The AI is not doing the killing.

The scandal is more that (surprise, surprise) the human oversight isn’t doing its job and the soldiers just follow orders.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse