US Military Moving Closer To Automated Killing 472
Doofus writes "A recent article in the Washington Post, A future for drones: Automated killing, describes the steady progress the military is making toward fully autonomous networks of targeting and killing machines. Does this (concern|scare|disgust) any of you? Quoting: 'After 20 minutes, one of the aircraft, carrying a computer that processed images from an onboard camera, zeroed in on the tarp and contacted the second plane, which flew nearby and used its own sensors to examine the colorful object. Then one of the aircraft signaled to an unmanned car on the ground so it could take a final, close-up look. Target confirmed. This successful exercise in autonomous robotics could presage the future of the American way of war: a day when drones hunt, identify and kill the enemy based on calculations made by software, not decisions made by humans. Imagine aerial "Terminators," minus beefcake and time travel.' The article goes on to discuss the dangers of surrendering to fully autonomous killing, concerns about the potential for 'atrocities,' and the nature of what we call 'common sense.'"
Re:not autonomous (Score:5, Interesting)
I read somewhere recently a quote that, IIRC, was from Churchill. It was something about avoiding war, but if you must fight, fight with severity, for that is the most humane. I think that applies here. Though it sounds incredibly cruel, if people are not dying in your war, there will be no incentive for either side to stop.
Of course, Gadhafi, Hussein, Stalin, and similar madmen are somewhat of a counter example in that they don't give up no matter how many of their side are killed. Yet Japan in WWII is an example of the ruthless severity (nuclear bombs) causing an immediate and complete cessation of any attempts to create war.
Even modern times with Gadhafi and Hussein, the invasion of Iraq was much more severe than the Libyan rebels, thus the shorter amount of time to cause the government to capitulate. (Getting the rest of the population to stop fighting, much harder... we'll see how Libya does without the outside intervention.)
Anyway, the point is that robot vs robot is war by proxy. Without the violence, the bloodshed, the impetus to end the war just won't be the same. They'll drag on for longer and longer, and resolution will be even less certain than it is today. I'm not sure that's necessarily such a good thing.
Re:War is power. (Score:2, Interesting)
"All power comes from being able to make someone happy. Really, think about it. A gun is no guarantee that someone will comply. "
I don't now if you've noticed but you live in a world of millions of suffering people, you have billionaires and homeless people not for a lack of homes but for a lack of guns on part of power to kill/subdue the rich. There is no rational reason to have as much suffering as we do in the developed world because of capitalism but most people fear guns.
Re:Automated job killing (Score:4, Interesting)