One in three Germans in favor of AI-controlled killer bots – survey

Less than half of the respondents believe humans should make life-and-death decisions on the battlefield, a poll commissioned by Politico suggests

One in three Germans favor the use of autonomous AI-powered weapons systems in war instead of human decision makers, a new poll commissioned by Politico has suggested. Less than half of the respondents believe humans should make life-and-death decisions on the battlefield.

The results, which were published on Friday, come amid a massive military buildup, with Chancellor Friedrich Merz seeking to make the German military “the strongest conventional army in Europe.” This reportedly includes contracts worth €900 million ($1.05 billion) for kamikaze drones.

The current coalition led by Merz, in its coalition agreement, no longer explicitly excludes the idea of allowing AI to make lethal decisions without human oversight, unlike the previous government led by Olaf Scholz.

According to the Politico poll, 33% of Germans would prefer AI systems in weapons even if their decision-making process is not entirely transparent; 47% believe humans still need to be in control.

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The survey was conducted by London-based polling company Public First on behalf of the media outlet from February 6-9 and involved at least 2,000 respondents from Germany, as well as the US, UK, Canada, and France. In all other nations, the number of those that favor AI-powered weapons did not exceed 22%; the number of those that prefer human control was 52-57%.

The results could indicate a major shift in German public opinion. In 2021, a poll conducted by a campaign against AI-powered weapons suggested that only 19% of people approved of using these types of weapons systems. Around 70% expressed ethical concerns over their use.

German officials have set 2029 as the deadline for the armed forces to be “war-ready,” citing the supposed ‘Russian threat’. Moscow has dismissed the speculation as “nonsense” aimed at justifying increased military budgets.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said last year: “with their current leaders, modern Germany and the rest of Europe are transforming into a Fourth Reich.”