Attack of the killer robots

The Hollywood idea of a killer robot

A UN report is calling for a moratorium on the deployment of lethal autonomous robots (LAR) that have the ability to make life and death decisions without human involvement.

LAR makes for a dangerous equation:

Lethal = causing death + autonomous = independent of others + robot = machine.

That's the kind of technology that can decide in less time than you take to blink whether or not to detonate a bomb or unload a missile into a target that may well be an insurgent stronghold but could be a group of innocent civilians (or unfortunately a mix of both).  It's these confused situations that make people with an ounce of humanity feel uneasy.  A machine is being asked to determine if the target is hostile - yes, it may well be able to assess that danger but can it also determine if there are non-combatants that will also be caught in the devastating barrage?

Is this the future of lethal autonomous robots?

I can understand these calls for caution and yes, unless they can prove that this technology will only destroy a true military target, the ultimate decision on whether to engage should lie with human beings.  Sometimes that decision will sadly involve what is euphemistically called collateral damage but at least that decision has been made by hopefully sane human beings with the moral code to decide who lives and who dies.

However, if anyone thinks that the advanced tech used so effectively by allied forces against the enemies of democracy will magically be withdrawn from active use just because of these concerns, they are naive.  Yes, retain the ultimate decision in human hands by all means (like is done with the Reaper drones) but keep the potent advantage that billions of dollars of technology can bring to democratic nations in these troubled times.

The unmanned military drone is a reality of modern warfare

Moratorium sought on killer robots (Stuff)

Call for L.A.R. moratorium (PolicyMic)

Does the world want L.A.R. (TechTheFuture)

Opinion (Rolling Stone)

L.A.R. - An ethical stance (PDF)

The very scary Taranis (Stuff)

Hypersonic gliders

Artist's impression of the DARPA HTV-2 Hyper glider 

The US military has been experimenting with some very fast moving objects indeed.  They successfully launched and monitored a glider flying at Mach 20 - that's around 21,000 km/h.  Well that's too fast for me to comprehend but I believe them when they say that, at this speed, they can respond to a threat anywhere on earth within an hour.

Not everything went to plan and the glider was hypersonic at speeds of Mach 17-22 for just 139 seconds.

Some random thoughts from me on this . . .

• This is an awesome although somewhat scary technology
• I'm impressed that they can build something that moves at this speed yet still remains controllable
• I wouldn't have wanted to be standing anywhere nearby when the sonic boom kicked in (although that's not likely when they took this to the edge of space to perform the trial)
• The acceleration on this thing must be mind-boggling - how fast could this have flown with a man or woman on board without turning them into soup? 
• Explanations of why the flight was so short suggested that the extreme speed caused the shell to peel off.  Did they intend to test it to destruction or was this an accident?
• I guess they are going to be spending an awful long time analysing the data they collected from the mission, even if it was cut short
• That analysis is not going to be available to anyone outside of the US government or military 
• Let's hope that our government stays friendly with the US when they have the money, capability and appetite to pursue such programmes of military development 
• Let's hope that non-democratic powers aren't doing the same.

Hyper glider article on Stuff.co.nz

More info on the DARPA HTV-2 flight at Space.com

Tech for weapons

This piece of tech gave me the shivers when I saw it.  The power to take a camera, an explosive device or a toxin up the side of building and deliver it to the enemy.  They just wouldn't see it coming.

It looks so life-like crawling up the wall - like a giant and very deadly insect.

I hope I'm on the right side if a technology like this is deployed !

Spooky.

Rise V2 / V3