Robots for War - is it really ethical to use these terribly destructive creations, that the USA military is rapidly developing and deploying ?
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Complete entry
Posted by
Matthew on 07/02 at 09:23 PM
Wendell Wallach is a bit behind the Times.
Two years ago I attended a conference where I met the Scientist/Engineer (he is both) in charge of the USA’s policy about “Autonomous Killing Machines” (and with implementing that policy).
Currently, there are no “Autonomous Killing Machines.”
And, according to this person (Dr. Ron Arkin of Georgia Tech) Autonomous Killings Machines would be a more moral and ethical soldier than would humans in the same role (I tend to believe his claims, after examining the evidence).
The article, upon reading it, is woefully ignorant of the debate that HAS (and continues) taken place regarding such weapons.
http://www.cc.gatech.edu/ai/robot-lab/publications.html
The link contains a plethora of academic publications on this very subject.
And, that is not all.
In the interest of full disclosure, I have worked on a system that would eventually supplement future Autonomous Combat Robotics.
But I had no idea at the time that the system in question would be applied to such technologies. All I was interested in doing was solving the problem I was given at the time - and was not filled in until considerably after the fact.
Most of the tropes presented in this article are more about humanity than they are about the reality of robotic weapons; much in the same way that Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” is more about humanity than it is about biology, or about robots.
If we continue to repeat tired tropes about the hubris of science and humanity, then why don’t we rewind the story some 10,000 to 100,000 years:
http://dresdencodak.com/2009/09/22/caveman-science-fiction/
After all, this is really what we are talking about:
Caveman Scientist: “I am make Science, I am put fire in cave.”
Caveman Chorus: “No! You go to far! no control nature!”
Caveman Scientist: “No, am keep warm…”
<<scenes of the world on fire>>
Caveman Scientist: “Me go too FAR!”
Isn’t this really what we are talking about here when we mention movies like “The Terminator” or “Battlestar Galactica” (admittedly, the latter does attempt to remain realistic about the issues, and presents a more realistic take on things, where the “robots” had a very real issue against which they rebelled)?
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