If Stephen Hawking says it, then its probably for the best.

Well whatever the computer he use says then

While Hawking and Musk are the two most recognizable names on that list, they really aren't experts in this field.

There are however, several former heads of the AAAI (Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence) and even more sitting members. This is something the people involved in AI don't want to happen, because it could ruin the future of AI forever.

We've known this for quite a long time.

I don't really want the military with AI weapons either...
It's a sad state of affairs that advancements in AI are most likely to come from military research. Instead of autonomous robots to farm, build solar plants, reforest or explore other planets, we'll first get smart weapons and autonomous surveillance.

pppsshhh.... How cool would real terminators be?
I mean what could possibly go wrong right?

Hate to break it to ya but there is a laundry list of important advancements that have come from military applications.

Nuclear fission, Teflon, large computer technology, composites, radar, integrated circuits, spread spectrum technology, rocket technology which we use to launch satellites, GPS, microwave technologies, drone technology, plus many other contributions in the areas of civil engineering  and not to mention the medical advancements we have today was largely driven by military research.

But as for a ban on AI weapons. Why? It's science unfettered. I mean, where does morality come into play here? And besides, we can control it. What could go wrong?

So, what's your point? That it's OK to devise new ways to impose might and kill people because we reap cool inventions as a side-effect?

There is nothing on tthose advancements that tie them specifically to military. They could have come from standard research and development on a competitive consumer economy. That money doesn't need to go to trigger-happy morons.

Not to mention the nazi medical experiments also meant a lot of breakthroughs after the war. Are you cool with that sort of science unfettered too?

Who's we? Do you mean people? Because even though that's true, AI weapons could be devisating and as has been mentioned, aren't limited by rare, or difficult to create matterials like nukes are. The problem isn't whether people could control them, it's which people control them.

I can't find it now, but I could swear I've read quite a few years ago that Germany has some kind of cruise missile system that can choose its own targets and fire without human input. Or was it just future project?