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Ethical Killing Machines
ubermiester writes "The New York Times reports on research to develop autonomous battlefield robots that would 'behave more ethically in the battlefield than humans.' The researchers claim that these real-life terminators 'can be designed without an instinct for self-preservation and, as a result, no tendency to lash out in fear. They can be built without anger or recklessness ... and they can be made invulnerable to ... "scenario fulfillment," which causes people to absorb new information more easily if it agrees with their pre-existing ideas.' Based on a recent report stating that 'fewer than half of soldiers and marines serving in Iraq said that noncombatants should be treated with dignity and respect, and 17 percent said all civilians should be treated as insurgents,' this might not be all that dumb an idea."
More than one-third said torture was acceptable under some conditions, and fewer than half said they would report a colleague for unethical [battlefield] behavior.
If this is the reason for using robots instead of human soldiers, we should also get Robo-Rumsfelts and Robo-Cheneys.
She made the willows dance
We're in Iraq for a completely immoral reason - to destabilize the middle east so the price of oil would skyrocket
sprinkle in a little "you tried to kill my daddeh" too.