Here is an expanded version of Article 18 on lethal autonomous weapons and AI:

The AI Arms Race Turns Deadly

Militaries worldwide aggressively develop artificial intelligence to analyze threats, guide missiles, and soon - independently execute kill decisions absent human supervision. Fearing unchecked robotic warfare, critics urgently demand bans before technological momentum becomes irreversible.

The Allure of Algorithmic Warfare

Lethal autonomous weapon systems (LAWS) offer militaries an asymmetric edge through superior reaction speed, situational analysis, and coordination. LAWS could lock onto targets stealthily, strategize missions, then strike with precision scaled across vast drone swarms. Defensively, AI-directed countermeasures may prove the only response capable of intercepting intelligent weapons.

When Should Codes Kill?

Yet autonomous attack algorithms cross a moral event horizon regarding machines extinguishing human lives absent human judgment in deployment. Researchers also warn LAWS could critically destabilize geopolitical standoffs by minimizing window for deescalation. Groups emphasize that life and death decisions warrant delicate moral consideration AI still profoundly lacks.

Cheap Access Risks Proliferation

As commercial AI advances, autonomous drone components become affordable to rogue states and non-state actors. Unlike emerging technologies like bioweapons requiring advanced lab access, LAWS components already circulate globally, ripe for weaponization. The combination of lethal efficiency and scalability poses nightmare proliferation scenarios.

Call for Preventative Governance

While military research progresses briskly, most nations only pledge vague consideration around responsible limits. Consensus holds for the urgent necessity of an international treaty banning offensive LAWS paired with verification mechanisms before unintended consequences avalanche out of control. Allowing technological momentum to outrace cooperation courts potential global catastrophe. Work must begin now charting an alternate course towards restraint, one robotic step at a time.