ATLANTA — In late September, U.S. Department of War Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the creation of “Autonomous Warfare Command.”
The new command is intended to accelerate the military’s adoption of robotics, drones, and artificial intelligence.
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Atlanta City Councilmember Liliana Bakhtiari’s concern led her to introduce the H.A.L.T. Act, short for Human Authority over Lethal Technology.
“I don’t think that we act often enough preemptively,” Bakhtiari said. “I think that we are absolutely going to see this trickle down to municipalities and counties.”
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The legislation would prohibit the city from purchasing or accepting weaponized AI systems and autonomous weapons technologies.
Bakhtiari says although the technology is not currently being considered, it is naive to think it won’t be used in the future.
“We’ve already seen a proliferation of AI throughout our communities and it doesn’t take a lot to weaponize what is already there,” Bakhtiari said.
Earlier this year, an executive at Axon discussed the future possibility of drones capable of deploying Tasers. The councilmember says the legislation would ban the technology.
“This is about making sure that humanity is at the center of public safety,” Bakhtiari said.
The councilmember says she wants more investment in law enforcement personnel and that people should always be present for any use-of-force decision.
“Lethal decisions should never be outsourced to an algorithm. Point blank, full stop,” Bakhtiari said.
The legislation still must pass the Executive and Finance Committee before heading to the full City Council.
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