Robots in warfare

[remnant]

The US sometime ago announced that it was venturing into research and development of robots to participate in guided warfare. This would reduce personnel casualties as well as increasse combat effectiveness especially in areas littered with landmines. But there are concerns about the judgement of such robocops since they wouldn't be able to differentiate between the military and civilian populations. Whats your take?

 

[explorerx7]

I wouldn't trust this venture because I believe it would be fraught with danger. It might reduce personnel casualties but I would be very concerned about the civilians. What if these robots should malfunction and go berserk? What guarantee would there be that the robots would be able to differentiate between military and civilian targets? Frankly, I believe that the civilian population would probably suffer immensely under this scheme.

 

[vash]

Are you guys talking about total automated robots? Or remotely controlled robot drones?

If it is the latter, they will be easier to control as every move of theirs are basically a direct result of the human operator controlling them. However, it is not without weakness. As the link between the operator and the robots can be jammed or even hacked to take over the robots.

If it is the former, then it could mean trouble on many levels.
First, if they can be perfect and totally replace the human soldiers, then are we looking at the Judgement Day, Skynet... anyone? lol
If they are very primitive and flawed, then they certainly can be shooting at everyone they see and even malfunction to the point that they will target their own forces. Sure there can be some kind of fail safe remote control to have malfunctioned robots to be turned off or even self-destruct, but what if these fail safe systems are hit and damaged first?

Either way, I think remotely controlled robots is the lesser of two evils. Just my opinion.

 

[djordjem87]

We've seen this in many Hollywood blockbusters and I think that it would be a great idea since wars are not likely to stop any time soon. It is better that we spare some lives and destroy some machines but that will all depend on the revenue this would bring and not on life saving features of it. Unfortunately it is the world we live in and what would poor countries do? They would have to go physical with robots probably which is not a good idea obviously.

 

[Lisa Davis]

Remotely operated drones are OK because ultimately they are operated by humans. However, I am not a fan of robo-soldiers that are completely reliant on artificial intelligence or something like that. The fact of the matter is some matters of war require decision making that I don't think can really be "taught" to a robot. It is just not possible in my opinion. Granted, human soldiers make mistakes, too, but when we do, we answer for it. Robots don't have the ability to have consequences like that.

 

[vash]

Remotely operated drones are OK because ultimately they are operated by humans. However, I am not a fan of robo-soldiers that are completely reliant on artificial intelligence or something like that. The fact of the matter is some matters of war require decision making that I don't think can really be "taught" to a robot. It is just not possible in my opinion. Granted, human soldiers make mistakes, too, but when we do, we answer for it. Robots don't have the ability to have consequences like that.

I am sure the artificial "intelligent" part can be fixed soon or later, but I am way more concerned with the eventual self-aware of these smart ass robots. What if we hand over all the military power to the robots? We will be at their mercy if they shall decide to no longer follow our orders or even just a general malfunction that makes them see all humans on all sides as enemies instead of just a certain country or group of humans.

 

[TungstenCube]

I think it's inevitable since machine learning means there's a continuous process of machines becoming smarter and smarter. Eventually, drones will be able to decide if a human is posing a threat, and then take action accordingly. The problems will come with the error rate, and the state department will have to smooth over any issues that arise on the front of international diplomacy.