'Unknown: Killer Robots' on Netflix: A shocking look at AI in deadly warfare

For many, the frightening nature of warfare could look even more terrifying in the future with increased artificial intelligence use in the military, outlined in the Netflix documentary Unknown: Killer Robots.

"As it gets more powerful, where are the red lines that we’re going to draw with AI in terms of how we want to use it, or not use it?" Emilia Javorsky, director of the Scientists Against Inhumane Weapons organization at the Future of Life Institute, says at the outset of the documentary. "There is no place that is ground zero for this conversation more than military applications."

"Militaries are racing to develop AI faster than their adversaries. We’re rapidly moving towards a world where not only major militaries, but non-state actors, private industries, or even our local police department down the street could be able to use these weapons that can autonomously kill. Will we cede the decision to take a life to algorithms, to computer software? It’s one of the most pressing issues of our time and if not used wisely, poses a grave risk to every single person on the planet.”

Unknown: Killer Robots, a portion of the four-part Unknown docuseries on Netflix, evaluates the benefits and threats of rapidly evolving and increasing AI technology, with a focus on military use of AI. In particular, it evaluates ethical questions around these robots being used as autonomous weapons.

Brandon Tseng, a former U.S. Navy SEAL and now the co-founder of Shield AI, is a strong advocate for the U.S. striving for "AI superiority" over its adversaries, with Tseng's company creating on an AI-piloted drone with the functionality to explore buildings and structures in war zones, stemming from his personal experience in close-quarters combat.

"In a given day, we might have to clear 150 different compounds or buildings," Tseng recalls from his time as a Navy SEAL in the documentary.

"You are getting shot at. There are IEDs potentially inside the building. It’s the most dangerous thing that any special operations forces member, any infantry member, can do in a combat zone."

But while the sentiment for Tseng and others is that AI could be used to save lives, questions about the reliability of this technology are severe, particularly when a robot, if armed, can decide whether to kill a target, without human intervention.

'Could we use AI technology to design molecules that were deadly'

Back in 2022, Sean Ekins, CEO of Collaborations Pharmaceuticals, and Fabio Urbina, were among the individuals who published a paper titled "Dual Use of Artificial-Intelligence-Powered Drug Discovery." The paper outlines their findings after Swiss laboratory Spiez asked Ekins to investigate potential misuse of AI in drug discovery, in advance of a conference presentation.

"I just wanted to make the point, could we use AI technology to design molecules that were deadly," Ekins explains in Unknown: Killer Robots.

By just making one simple change in their model, specifically changing a "0" to a "1" using a six-year-old Mac computer, in six hours there was a file with 40,000 of "the most toxic molecules possible," thousands of new chemical weapons.

While Ekins and Urbina questioned whether the findings should be published, they decided to do so, with their paper being read by hundreds of thousands of people, resulting in extensive media coverage and social media chatter, and a requested meeting with the White House.

While Unknown: Killer Robots just starts to open the door on ethical questions around AI and what AI policies should look like, it's clear at this point that concerns are growing. Could AI allow us to "trade" machines for human lives, as Bob Work, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defence from 2014 to 2017 says in the documentary, or will it pose an even greater threat?

"The robots are here. The robots are making decisions. The robot revolution has arrived, it’s just that it doesn’t look like what anybody imagined," Meredith Broussard, data journalism professor at New York University identifies in Unknown: Killer Robots.