This Disturbing Short Film SLAUGHTERBOTS Imagines a Real-Life Uprising of Killing Machines
The Future of Life Institute has released a fascinating and disturbing sci-fi short film called Slaughterbots. It was made to show at the UN Convention on Conventional Weapons in Geneva, Switzerland. The short is meant to show people what could happen if we don't place an international moratorium on autonomous killing machines.
The film has the same kind of tone and vibe that you would see in Netflix's Black Mirror series. The story is set in the near future and it follows a fictional company called StratoEnergetics who is launching their new AI-powered and miniaturized killer drones. As you might expect, the weapon ends up in the wrong hands and chaos ensues. It is used as a way to assassinate people such as politicians, political activists, and students.
What's crazy about the short is that a weapon like this is a real possibility unlike something like the Terminator, this could be the start of a real-life robot uprising! If it ever it wouldn't be easy to defend against. FLI said this in a statement:
“While robotic weapons usually conjure images of the Terminator and other unrealistic science-fiction scenarios, the film makes clear that fully autonomous drones could be far cheaper, smaller, and more effective than humanoid robots. Their low cost could make them the next class of weapons of mass destruction. The film also depicts how difficult it will be for governments and militaries to keep the weapons out of the wrong hands.”
This is a great short that is both terrifying and violent. Check it out and tell us what you think!