The US 2nd Amendment right to keep and bear arms was added to the Constitution in 1791. In the two centuries since, firearm technology has changed significantly. But the 2nd Amendment hasn’t.
In 1791, for example, US citizens were given the right to carry a single-shot firearm or sword in public. Because, well, that’s all there was. In 2021, however, there exists a vast array of weaponry ranging from easily-concealed handguns to assault rifles capable of firing hundreds of rounds per minute with uncanny accuracy.
It’s so-far proven pointless to debate whether the US founders would have viewed the right to bear arms differently if they’d been aware of semi-automatic weapons such as the Glock 21 or Colt AR-15.
But the advent of deep learning AI technology combined with the stalwart, unwavering nature of US courts when it comes to defending the 2nd Amendment presents some interesting new wrinkles to the conversation.
It’s legal to keep and own a firearm in all 50 US states – though certain conditions do apply and the exact restrictions can vary widely from one state to the next.
In Texas, for example, it’s typically legal to open-carry any firearm you can legally own. Interestingly though, it is not legal to open-carry a sword.
But what happens when we introduce AI-powered weapons to the mix? There are three major areas of concern at the intersection of machine learning and the right to keep and bear arms:
- Sentry guns
- Defense drones
- Autonomous attack vehicles
Sentry guns
In 2018, a Syrian man built this dead-simple autonomous sentry gun: