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Author: Wendell Wallach Wendell Wallach is known internationally as an expert on the ethical and governance concerns posed by emerging technologies, particularly artificial intelligence and neuroscience. He is a consultant, ethicist, and scholar at Yale University’s Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics and a senior advisor to The Hastings Center, a fellow at the Center for Law, Science &, Innovation at the Sandra Day O’Connor School of Law (Arizona State University), and a fellow at the Institute for Ethics &, Emerging Technology. At Yale, Wallach has chaired the Center’s working research group on Technology and Ethics for the past ten years and is a member of other research groups on animal ethics, end of life issues, and neuroethics. In addition to ....
On December 6, 1999, after a successful landing, a Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) unexpectedly accelerated its taxiing speed to 178 mph and, at a curve in the runway, veered off the paved surface. Its nose gear collapsed in the adjacent desert, causing $5.3 million in damage. At the time of the accident, the operators piloting the UAV from the safety of their control station had no idea why it had occurred. An Air Force investigation attributed the acceleration to software problems compounded by “a breakdown in supervision.” A spokesperson for Northrop Grumman, the UAV’s manufacturer, placed blame for the excessive speed totally upon the operators. There was certainly some delay in the operators’ recognition of the UAV’s unanticipated behavior. Even after they realized something was wrong, they did not understand which of its programmed subroutines the aircraft was following. The compensating instructions they did provide were either not received or not accomm ....