Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Are 'Killer Robbots' The Future?

Killer robots don't have human judgement, opponents say

Killer Robots Instead Of Soldiers? -- Deutsche Welle

Increasingly, drones and robots are being used in combat to replace soldiers in high-risk situations. Some researchers and politicians are concerned that, in future, autonomous machines may reign over life and death.

A Pentagon video shows a fighter jet taking off from a US aircraft carrier. At first glance, the maneuver is unspectacular. A second glance, however, reveals a detail that is not necessarily conspicuous: The X-47B stealth fighter has no cockpit, it is an unmanned drone.

According to the US Navy, drone technology has reached another milestone with the first take-off of a drone the size of a fighter jet from an aircraft carrier. It is a further step toward increasingly independent unmanned weapons systems.

Read more ....

My Comment: The focus is on developing and building air and naval drones, and on land .... the focus is building robots that serve as IED detectors, as well as transporting goods. In all of these cases there is always a human operator. But will the software be developed for these 'robots' to operate independently .... in my opinion it is only a matter of time .... and then these robots will start to replace human soldiers because they are effective (operating 24/7), less human casualties is politically more acceptable, and .... considering how expensive it is to train and maintain a modern soldier in today's world .... probably (in the long run) cheaper.

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