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I am Stephen Joel Sautloff.

I'm sure you know exactly who I am by now and why I am appearing before you.

Stephen Joel Sautloff was beheaded by ISIS in September of 2014.

His execution was seen around the world on video.

Did you ever watch it?

I have viewed Stephen's body with his head on his chest.

I had to see that because I needed to be sure that that was him.

Stephen's parents had been shattered by it and by their strong belief that the American government could have saved his life.

You've seen drones before but never like this.

A swarm of autonomous drones flying themselves.

It's the start of a military revolution.

Now it's fucking at me.

Machines operating on their own.

It recognized you instantly.

Using artificial intelligence to make decisions faster than humans and raising questions that Pentagon is only beginning to grapple with.

So if the machine is better, why not let it make the decision?

This goes to the ethics of the question of whether or not you allow a machine to take a human life without the intervention of a human.

I would say at this point, I am certain.

That's a rare thing to say for a prediction for a scientist and I'm willing to say it.

You do know how mind-boggling this sounds.

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