Robots as Actors in a Film: No War, A Robot Story

TL;DR

This short film uses robots as actors in a fictional scenario to provoke discussion on the ethical and societal implications of robot involvement in future warfare, inspired by current scientific research.

Contribution

It presents a creative, film-based exploration of robots' societal roles and ethical dilemmas in warfare, using robots as actors to illustrate potential future conflicts.

Findings

Robots are depicted as capable of acting in a film, illustrating their potential societal roles.

The film raises ethical questions about robot participation in human conflicts.

It encourages reflection on the future of robot-human interactions in warfare.

Abstract

Will the Third World War be fought by robots? This short film is a light-hearted comedy that aims to trigger an interesting discussion and reflexion on the terrifying killer-robot stories that increasingly fill us with dread when we read the news headlines. The fictional scenario takes inspiration from current scientific research and describes a future where robots are asked by humans to join the war. Robots are divided, sparking protests in robot society... will robots join the conflict or will they refuse to be employed in human warfare? Food for thought for engineers, roboticists and anyone imagining what the upcoming robot revolution could look like. We let robots pop on camera to tell a story, taking on the role of actors playing in the film, instructed through code on how to "act" for each scene.