US Military Moving Closer To Automated Killing

Doofus writes "A recent article in the Washington Post, A future for drones: Automated killing, describes the steady progress the military is making toward fully autonomous networks of targeting and killing machines. Does this (concern|scare|disgust) any of you? Quoting: 'After 20 minutes, one of the aircraft, carrying a computer that processed images from an onboard camera, zeroed in on the tarp and contacted the second plane, which flew nearby and used its own sensors to examine the colorful object. Then one of the aircraft signaled to an unmanned car on the ground so it could take a final, close-up look. Target confirmed. This successful exercise in autonomous robotics could presage the future of the American way of war: a day when drones hunt, identify and kill the enemy based on calculations made by software, not decisions made by humans. Imagine aerial "Terminators," minus beefcake and time travel.' The article goes on to discuss the dangers of surrendering to fully autonomous killing, concerns about the potential for 'atrocities,' and the nature of what we call 'common sense.'"

Comments

Landmines

[Anonymous Coward]

Landmines do automated killing every day!

Re:War is power.

[phantomfive]

All power comes from the barrel of a gun. Aimed at you - to make you comply. Willingly, or otherwise.

All power comes from being able to make someone happy. Really, think about it. A gun is no guarantee that someone will comply. If they feel certain you will shoot, then it has almost no power at all. The power of a gun comes from the fact that you MIGHT make them happy by not killing them.

If your goal is to get people to do something, you'll do much better paying them than trying to threaten them. And if you can make them happy in other ways, you may be even more powerful than merely with money.

Obama didn't obtain the most powerful office in the world by threatening to kill people (King George tried that, and got a revolution). He got votes by giving people hope for change. How much change he delivered is a different thing (certainly he delivered some), but people were happy to believe that it might be true. So they voted for him.

The reality of power is different than what a lot of people think.