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."

Comments

Re:Clippy?

[AviLazar]

I see you're trying to attack an insurgent stronghold. Would you like me to:
1. Call in airstrike
2. Fire machinegun
3. Wave white flag?

#3? Didn't know the French were building robotic soldiers.

Bad Premise: What if they are all insurgents?

[tjstork]

It's funny to so easily dismiss the claim that soldiers think many Iraqi civilians are insurgents or are connected to the insurgency in some way.

But, what if they are? If an insurgent in Iraq can go into the middle of street of a major city, dig a giant hole, stuff it with artillery shells, bury it and walk and walk away, what does that say about the hundreds of other people that saw him do it and said nothing. I guarantee you that if I walked out with a shovel and a truckload of artillery shells into the middle of LA, someone -might- call the cops. But in Iraq, no one does.

If anything, this statistic supports one of the of the arguments against a continued US presence in Iraq was that our presence insights people to join the insurgency. If, soldiers are encountering a population sympathetic to insurgents, then, are we really to be surprised?

Instead of following on the liberal religion that a middle class army lead by college educated officers is somehow stupid, how about instead take these soldiers word as something probably accurate? Is it really so problematic to say that we should leave Iraq because the entire population hates us?

Re:Do they run vista?

[WolfWalker545]

ROFL. You obviously have ZERO clue about how soldiers are trained and expected to behave. And the researchers above have zero clue about COIN.

Re:Ethical vs Moral

[mcgrew]

We're in Afghanistan for a completely ethical reason - because they attacked our country without provocation.

We're in Iraq for a completely immoral reason - to destabilize the middle east so the price of oil would skyrocket and oil men Bush and Cheney could make tons of money, at the expense of their countrymen, their country, and the world itself.

Re:Do they run vista?

[Atrox666]

The US is well known the world over for wiping its ass with the Geneva convention.
Just like in everything else the US thinks it's above following the rules.

BTW how's thinking you're above the rules of economics working out for you?

Re:Do they run vista?

[inviolet]

Because more of the U.S. deaths were homicides (as opposed to suicides or accidental deaths), the U.S. rate of gun homicide was nearly eight times Canada's, the agency says. Homicides accounted for 38 per cent of deaths involving guns in the United States and 18 per cent in Canada."

Subtract blacks from the US numbers, and then compare again.

Re:Ethical vs Moral

[mcgrew]

Look out, Bush-worshiping neocons have mod points! I long for the old metamoderation system so asshats who downmodded opinions they disagreed with were punished by not getting more points.

The "he tried to kill my daddy" was a no-brainer, obviously. I agree. Whoever modded you flamebait was a no brainer as well.