Comments on: Army to deploy robots that shoot

Talon robots moving from taking pictures to wielding machine gun. People, though, will control where it goes and what is shoots.
Photo: Combat-ready robots

Wow!

If drug dealers in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, somehow, get a robot like that... hmm... poor Brazilian cops.

Hellooo, SkyNet!

I don't know about you guys, but *I'm* looking forward to carrying around a pulse rifle, shooting and being shot at by HK's and taking down T-1000's.

It's either that, or become a living battery for the horrible, horrible Machines and their Agents.

[Fray9]

Hmm..

I think someones been watching too much television =P

Seriously though no one will ever make weapons of war completely autonomous, like the article said, humans dont like not having complete control over things that can kill them.

Re: Psycho

You need help... Serious help.

-J

[Jonathan]

Cost of war?

As long as AI stays out of the equation its all good I guess.
My biggest problem is if you take too much of the person out of war what is the incentive NOT to go to war. In the past its always been the cost of war in terms of human life and resources. If you take the human life out of the cost it makes it that much easier for a society to say screw it lets go to war. As it stand the American public already is, IMHO, a tad to brazen about sending our men and women off to war.

[Fray9]

I have to agree

You make a good point and I have to agree with you there. If there is no risk of (insert nation here)'s citizens and military personel being killed, why should they care whether or not they go to war? As long as its not their people dieing anything goes.

And its at that point things have already gone too far.

The mind shudders to think what would come next. Genocide? Sure, why not? World War? Sure, why not?

Re: Cost o'War

Interesting point, but I seriously doubt that will ever happen. I'm guessing that nuclear war will happen before then. We actually are on the edge of a nuclear/world-war right now. Israel is the main player in this. The arab nations are not happy with Israel's existance, and really want to wipe her out. All of that would go easy, but there's a few problems with that. Israel has the best military in the world (not largest, but best, mind you) and they have the bomb, no, no, not the stink bomb, but the nuclear atomic bomb. They have submarines that can deploy it, the have jets, silos, you name it. Israel has made it clear time and time again that if it feels that their back is against the wall, and they're about to be wiped out - they'll use that nuclear arsenal and destroy everything... But, the arab nations still try, and will try again... And if that happens, I'm afraid, they'll go at Israel with 100% of everything they have... Israel will ultimately wipe everything and everyone out... Unless it is stopped. Maybe God will stop it? Hopefully. That's the only way I see it from bein' stopped... Otherwise, goodbye y'all.

Different kind of war

If warfare is going to be fought by machines in the future, why not stop the silly notion of war entirely?

How about resolving disputes by playing a lively game of Risk or Monopoly? The human race will be better for it.

Interestingly unaffective looking tools

Let's see, walking speed, conspicuous, expensive (but that's never been a problem for the military), and carrying a large gun.

It seems they could have made it smaller and faster if they would have created a robot specific armory for these creatures.

[Tex Murphy PI]

Cost of War already cheap

One of the authors hit the nail on the head: Fighting with automatons will certainly reduce the "cost" or war considerably - since human lives will less likely be lost.

However, I would even argue against that conclusion - since MOST POLITICIANS who wage war are NOT affected by their decisions. Their children are never in harms way - it is always another person's future they are calously playing dice with.

This is in no way a reflection of today's administration, but also of the past ones that preceded it - across ALL countries in the world. It is never the politician who has to bury the child they have worked long and hard, and sacrificed much to raise.

Deploying automatons to the battlefield will only increase the cost of war in economic terms - since they are less agile, and probably easier to take down when put up against an organized team of humans.

As for the author who commented on Israel vs the Arab World - it is also sad to say that that obeservation is still too true. The hatred in that region is so intense, that they are blinded by it - and the "cost" of war for them will always be very low.

[jg_rat]

Body count

It looks to me like a way to seriously lift "collateral damage" and "friendly fire", all at arm's length and with the ability to cleanly blame the technology.