MEDIA COVERAGE ON KILLER ROBOTS 10 July– 25 August 2015 The open letter issued by artificial intelligence and robots researchers calling for a ban on autonomous weapons was presented at the Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Buenos Aires on 28 July 2015 and generated huge media coverage throughout the US and internationally. Much attention focused on prominent signatories including Elon Musk, Stephen Hawking, Steve Wozniak, Noam Chomsky, Jaan Tallinn, and Max Tegmark, while a web post by the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots identified some of the prominent female signatories. Human Rights Watch intern Robert Pattillo has compiled the following list of 1,821 articles generated by the artificial intelligence call to ban autonomous weapons. In terms of lanugages covered, he found 594 articles in English language media outlets, 326 in Spanish, 180 in French, 152 in Russian, 123 in Chinese (Mandarin), 66 in German, 48 in Korean, 37 in Dutch, 34 in Turkish, 27 in Greek, 26 in Arabic, 22 in Portuguese, 22 in Romanian, 20 in Polish, 19 in Indonesian Bahasa, 16 in Japanese, 14 in Bulgarian, 13 in Ukrainian, 14 in Italian, 9 in Hungarian, 6 in Croatian, 6 in Vietnamese, 5 in Czech, 5 in Slovak, 4 in Estonian, 3 in Danish, 3 in Norwegian, 3 in Latvian, 3 in Serbian, 3 in Slovenian, 2 in Azerbaijani, 2 in Mongolian, 2 in Finnish, 2 in Hebrew, 2 in Thai, 2 in Urdu, 2 in Farsi, and one article each in Afrikaans, Catalan, Lithuanian, and Somali. A substantial number of media outlets published variations of AP or AFP wire stories on the letter. Most major print media covered the open letter, while there was coverage on National Public Radio and BBC, and in some broadcast television outlets. The Conversation, Defense One, and IEEE Spectrum published multiple stories in favor and opposing the call for a ban. Much of the media coverage cited the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots and its member organizations. Some mentioned the precedent provided by the CCW protocol banning blinding lasers. Others linked the issue to the 70th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. English Carly Okyle, “Here's Your Chance to Ask Stephen Hawking Anything,” Entrepreneur, 24 July 2015, http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/248800 Lance Whitney, “Stephen Hawking to answer your questions via his first Reddit forum,” CNET, 24 July 2015, http://www.cnet.com/news/stephen-hawking-to-answer-your-questions-via-his- first-reddit-ama/ Lynda Johnson, “Stephen Hawking Set to Partake in Reddit Q&A Session,” Capital Wired, 25 July 2015, http://www.capitalwired.com/stephen-hawking-set-to-partake-in-reddit-qa- session/29572/ Michelle Toh, “Stephen Hawking on Reddit: What would you ask?,” Christian Science Monitor, 25 July 2015, http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2015/0725/Stephen-Hawking-on-Reddit- What-would-you-ask “Stephen Hawking warns against rise of AI machines,” Brantford Expositor, 27 July 2015, http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/2015/07/27/stephen-hawking-fields-questions-on-artificial- intelligence-on-reddit - This Post Media Network article also appeared in Chatham Daily News, Cornwall Standard Freeholder, Fort McMurray Today, Niagara Falls Review, Northumberland Today, Orillia Packet and Times, Owen Sound Sun Times, Peterborough Examiner, Sarnia Observer, Sault Star, Simcoe Reformer, St. Catharines Standard, Sudbury Star, The Kingston Whig-Standard, The London Free Press, Timmins Press, Welland Tribune, Toronto Sun, 27 July 2015 Daniel Victor, “Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking Among Hundreds to Urge Ban on Military Robots,” The New York Times, 27 July 2015, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/28/technology/elon-musk-and-stephen-hawking-among- hundreds-to-urge-ban-on-military-robots.html?_r=0 - This New York Times article was also published by The Irish Times, 28 July 2015, The Straits Times, 29 July 2015 Elizabeth Palermo, “Stephen Hawking on Reddit: Ask Him a Question on Artificial Intelligence,” LiveScience, 27 July 2015, http://www.livescience.com/51668-stephen-hawking- reddit-ama.html - This article was also published by Christian Science Monitor, Yahoo News, 27 July 2015, Jasper Hamill, “Stephen Hawking claims racist killer robots could be used in vicious ethnic cleansing campaigns,” Mirror, 27 July 2015, http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/technology- science/science/racist-killer-robots-could-used-6147809 - This article also appeared in Irish Mirror Online 27 July 2015 Jonah Bennet, “1,000 Experts Sign Letter Warning Of ‘Artificial Intelligence Arms Race’,” The Daily Caller, 27 July 2014, http://dailycaller.com/2015/07/27/1000-experts-sign-letter-warning- of-artificial-intelligence-arms-race/#ixzz3iRjxkXCE - This article also appeared in Truth In Media, 28 July 2015, NewsMaine 30 July 2015 Peter Sayer (IDG), “Leading A.I. researchers, scientists want a ban on autonomous weapons,” Computerworld, 27 July 2015, http://www.computerworld.com/article/2952244/emerging- technology/leading-ai-researchers-scientists-want-a-ban-on-autonomous-weapons.html This article also appeared in Network World 27 July 2015 Rob Price, “Elon Musk, Stephen Hawking, and thousands of AI researchers just issued a dire warning about killer robot,” Business Insider India, July 27 2015, http://www.businessinsider.in/Elon-Musk-Stephen-Hawking-and-thousands-of-AI-researchers- just-issued-a-dire-warning-about-killer-robots/articleshow/48240696.cms - This article was also published by Business Insider Australia 28 July 2015 Tanya Lewis, “Stephen Hawking is doing a Reddit AMA — now's your chance to ask him your burning questions,” Business Insider, 27 July 2015, http://www.businessinsider.com/stephen- hawking-doing-reddit-ama-2015-7 - This article also appeared in Business Insider India 27 July 2015 Tia Ghose, “Ban Killer Robots Before They Take Over, Stephen Hawking & Elon Musk Say,” LiveScience, 27 July 2015, http://www.livescience.com/51664-stephen-hawking-elon-musk-ai- weapons.html - This article was also published on Yahoo News and Discovery News 27 July 2015 “‘Kalashnikovs of tomorrow’: Hawking, Musk, Wozniak warn of global AI arms race,” RT, 27 July 2015, http://www.rt.com/news/310882-wozniak-musk-hawking-ai/ “AI and robotics researchers call for global ban on autonomous weapons.” KurzweilAI, 27 July 2015, http://www.kurzweilai.net/ai-and-robotics-researchers-call-for-global-ban-on-autonomous- weapons?utm_source=KurzweilAI+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=c37ac0f9d4-UA- 946742-1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6de721fb33-c37ac0f9d4-282125545 “Hawking, Musk, Wozniak warn of military artificial intelligence arms race – Trending,” CBC News, 27 July 2015, http://www.cbc.ca/news/trending/hawking-musk-wozniak-warn-of-military- artificial-intelligence-arms-race-1.3169193 “Stephen Hawking to answer your queries directly on Reddit!,” Zee News, 27 July 2015, http://zeenews.india.com/news/science/stephen-hawking-to-answer-your-queries-directly-on- reddit_1637268.html ABC Radio, “Elon Musk, Stephen Hawking Want To Save World From Killer Robots,” KMBZ, 27 July 2015, http://www.kmbz.com/pages/21793872.php? ABC Radio, “Elon Musk, Stephen Hawking Want To Save World From Killer Robots,” KTIC Radio, 27 July 2015, http://kticradio.com/abc_business/elon-musk-stephen-hawking-want-to- save-world-from-killer-robots-abcid35426524/ Alyssa Newcomb, “Elon Musk, Stephen Hawking Want to Save the World From Killer Robots,” ABC News, 27 July 2015, http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/elon-musk-stephen-hawking-save- world-killer-robots/story?id=32711666 Andrew Moseman, “Do We Need To Ban Killer AI?,” Popular Mechanics, 27 July 2015, http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a16626/do-we-need-to-ban-killer-ai/ Anthony Wood, “Open letter petitions UN to ban the development on weaponized AI,” Gizmag, 27 July 2015, http://www.gizmag.com/open-letter-un-weaponized-artificial-intelligence/38645/ Ben Guarino, “Musk, Wozniak, Hawking, Other Geniuses Are Opposing Autonomous Weapons,” Inverse, 27 July 2015, https://www.inverse.com/article/4850-musk-wozniak- hawking-other-geniuses-are-opposing-autonomous-weapons Ben Sullivan, “Stephen Hawking And Steve Wozniak Warn Of Military AI Arms Race,” TechWeekEurope, 27 July 2015, http://www.techweekeurope.co.uk/e-innovation/drones- artifical-intelligence-ai-hawking-173394 Bill Howard, “Musk, Hawking, Wozniak: Ban AI warfare, autonomous weapons,” ExtremeTech, 27 July 2015, http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/210983-musk-hawking-woz-ban-ai-warfare- autonomous-weapons Cat Zakrzewski, “Musk, Hawking Warn of Artificial Intelligence Weapons,” WSJ, 27 July 2015, http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2015/07/27/musk-hawking-warn-of-artificial-intelligence-weapons/ Daniela Hernandez, “Very smart people are freaking out about autonomous killer robots,” Fusion, 27 July 2015, http://fusion.net/story/173413/elon-musk-stephen-hawking-call-for-killer- robot-ban/ David Witmer, “Hawking, Musk, Wozniak Warn of Imminent AI-Based Robot Warfare ,” IGN, 27 July 2015, http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/07/27/hawking-musk-wozniak-warn-of- imminent-ai-based-robot-warfare Deborah Grace, “International panel launch anti-AI campaign,” Pioneer News, 27 July 2015, http://www.piercepioneer.com/international-panel-launch-anti-ai-malitia-campaign/44052 Delila James, “Warning: Ban killer robots before they kill us, top scientists say,” Science Recorder, 27 July 2015, http://www.sciencerecorder.com/news/2015/07/27/warning-ban-killer- robots-kill-us-top-scientists-say/ Doug Bolton, “'Killer robots' with AI must be banned, urge Stephen Hawking, Noam Chomsky and thousands of others in open letter,” The Independent, 27 July