Fully autonomous weapons, or killer robots, are currently under development, representing a new level of morally repugnant violence.

Ray Acheson is the director of Reaching Critical Will, the disarmament section of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. She tells us why these weapons are highly controversial, after outlining the current inspiring momentum for a treaty to ban nuclear weapons.

Recent breakthroughs in disarmament diplomacy are likely to see negotiations begin in 2017 on a new legal instrument to finally outlaw the nuclear bomb.

Image: finding a dumpster for the bomb in Melbourne, with the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.