Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Fox Mulder — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 00:56:50 GMT

Now with "The Creation of the Humanoids", how long is it before we read about something going horribly wrong with a "Klicker", and it killing innocent people. December 21, 2012 is right around the corner, and "The Time is Near" Remember, Trust_No1!

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

anais,phoenix, AZ — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 01:12:44 GMT

wow i didnt know that there were KILLER ROBOTS in iraq

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Eric, Seattle, WA — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 01:49:09 GMT

I think an important advantage that a robot soldier (either autonomous or remote controlled) has over a human soldier is that the robot would not be fearing for his life. Many situations where civilians and innocents are killed arise because a human soldier comes under attack, fears for his own safety, and fires back without actually knowing who attacked him. A robot would not be under the same "fight or die" pressure and could take more time to evaluate the situation.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

a p garcia — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 01:56:40 GMT

Can you say "Skynet"!

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

ThomR, Rockville, MD — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 02:09:27 GMT

Still the genie so to speak is out of the bottle. To me its human nature to tinker. From cloning to genetic research lines can be drawn but will not necessarily be followed. We are constantly pushing the envelope that is a our nature. Tell us 'people can't fly or 'you will never get to the moon' then what happens. Knowledge is not good or bad its how you use it. As said by the author just because we will follow these guidelines does not mean others will. There are plenty of examples of when people pressed into a corner will cross that line or just do it for greed. I am not sure what the solution is but I will say that the only way supress knowledge is for us to de-evolve and that's just not going to happen.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Joseph Basile, Worcester, MA — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 02:17:19 GMT

Good bit of reporting Alan.

I find the last quote you included interesting. What was the likely cause for concern on the part of the New York Times in 1950? My guess would be the post WWII trauma over the German V-1 and V-2 missiles. Even so early on it was evident that unmanned weapons posed many ethical questions that were only going to become more complex. A missile doesn't understand the political opinions of each person it kills. Today that same issue has evolved into machines not with indiscriminant killing power, but the ability to target specific people. Is that a danger? Of course it is!

Another interesting topic is the idea that one day battlefields will be occupied not by soldiers but only by these drones. On the one hand, having machines kill other machines in war would spare us from human casualties. On the other hand, we would be giving potentially intelligent machines all of the weapons. Then what?

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Alan Boyle — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 02:26:20 GMT

Joseph, I wondered about that myself. I'm too cheap to buy something from the NYTimes archive just to check out the article, but I'm guessing it's either of these:

http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10917FA3C5815738FDDA00994D9415B8089F1D3

http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10711FA395E15738FDDAD0A94D1405B8089F1D3

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Spacegold, Apache Junction, Arizona. — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 02:43:15 GMT

As long as they are remotely human controlled, there should be no question of conscience. The policy should be "no fully autonomous devices."

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Mr. Fractal — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 02:58:22 GMT

I have just invented "Flying Killer Robot Squirrels" and I have Programmed them to kill mostly all the stupid idiots that want to spend all their friggin' time and money on New Ways to kill everything. God forbid we would spend our time and money on Education, Health Care and the flippin' poor! Forget that! Give me weirder weapons! YEA! Morons.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

SAD AND CONFUSED, NEW YORK — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 03:02:38 GMT

I WOULD RATHER HAVE KILLER ROBOTS, THAN TO LOSE ANOTHER FAMILY MEMBER IN A SENSELESS WAR

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

SkullTracer — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 03:07:21 GMT

There's one book that talks about humanoids but that nobody is paying attention. That book is very interesting because everything is happening right now. By example, according to that book in the future every one will need a chip in his/her right hand or forehead to buy, and there will be a robot that will have a great political power in the whole world. Note that this book is very ancient, and its called a "walking statue" instead of a "robot". It's amazing to me that almost everyone knows this book but just a few of people really study it. Yep... it's the Bible. Do a research on the Bible and you will find about the statue of the Beast which walks (a robot). How would you call or describe a "robot" if you don't know what is it? "A statue that walks!"

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Tom Carter, Chicago — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 03:25:45 GMT

The public generally lumps 3 things into the catagory of AI: Robots, Expert Systems, and AI. None of these things are synonimous.

What the military has deployed at the moment are simple electromechanical devices which are radio controlled or executing preprogramed steps.

What the military wants to deploy are what are known as Expert Systems, in this case designed for combat. An Expert system is effective in it's area of "expertise" for which it is programmed. These systems are able to adapt and react atonomously within a very narrow scope which is exactly what would work for combat robots. The main drawback is that anything outside it's scope of expertise is unknown and must be handled by outside means such as a human operator. For example, improvised weapons would be especially effective. A human soldier would recognise that a person about to drop a washing machine on him/her is a threat, an expert system can't make that predictive leap.

The AI's of books and movies are just that, fiction. There is no HAL or Skynet in the works. A general purpose AI in any form is far from a reality. What exists at the moment are expert systems in a variety of fields that operate within the very specific rules for which they are created. True AI is a completely different concept from an expert system. There is no risk of an expert system turning on it's creators or having a change of heart or taking over the world.

Pop culture has given us a knee jerk reaction to AI without any concept of the reality of the situation. This, as well as the ubiquity of the term AI in refering to systems that are not AIs has led to an uninformed and reactionary response among both the media and the public.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

UR LORD NEWPORT, VT — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 03:33:08 GMT

WELL JUST THIS ARTICLE TELLING US THAT THERE WAS KILLER ROBOTS IN IRQ AND AFGANISTAN SHOWS WHAT THE GOVERMENT HAS BEEN HIDING AND AMOUNGST THAT I DONT THINK THAT THE WHOLE GOAL OF MAKING A ROBO-HUMANOID IS GOING TO TURN OUT WORNG.
THINK AS IF WE SCOLD ITS NATURE AND IT LOOKS AT US AS WERE THE NEW ENEMY. WHAT WILL U DO THEN WHEN THERE KILLING US OF WHEN THERE SUPPOSE TO BE ON THE SIDE OF JUSTICE.
YET IT WILL PREVAIL THAT PEOPLE WILL DIE OVER THESE AND MORE PPL WILL CRY!

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

DORRIS SPELL DELAND FL — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 03:54:10 GMT

THE MONEY SPENT ON WAR ANY ONE YEAR WOULD FEED EVEY
PERSON ON THIS PLANET FOR THAT SAME YEAR, AND TREAT
THEIR ILLS AND SICKNESS EXCEPT FOR POSSABLY OUR
POLITCIANS IF YOU AGREE THEN SPEAK OUT.......

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Ron, Tinton Falls, New Jersey — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 03:59:21 GMT

im glad we have killer robots... if terrorists have the right to put bombs in cars to kill our brave men and women, i say we have the right to stick an assult rife 5 feet next to them and blow their heads off

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

John Doe, seattle Wash ): — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 04:01:27 GMT

Building cybernetic weapons without 'Asimov's Laws of Robotics' is suicidal. Don't these guys read SciFi? All kidding aside making war into a video game has been the Army goal since before it started recruiting with video games.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Katrina — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 04:19:21 GMT

killer robots...star wars...hm...

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

kelly, MO — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 04:36:38 GMT

What is truly scary about this is something that Noel Sharkey pointed out. It got me thinking that that it takes some really good programing and technology to make a sentient and safe combat robot. Doing it right takes a lot of people working together in the computer sciences and technology fields. The people that will do it right are the ones doing it now. I am not afraid of the people that will "do it right" it's the people who don't care that scare me.

If you've seen any battlebot video's you know that almost anyone with a penchant for electronics and computer programming can make something truly deadly with parts bought online and assembled in their garage. I am not saying we should fear people who hobby in robotics but if some organisation or country wanted to mount weapons on a platform that shot randomly at any moving target that does not require the expertise that we are talking about. It is the people who do care about "doing it wrong" that scare me and I almost think that we should be in a race to make our "partially sentient" combat drones as quick as possible because when it comes down to fighting again some kind of robotic beserker are you going to want to give that job to a person or a machine?

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Edward Lee — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 04:44:33 GMT

S.Korean Army in Iraq has already utilized a heat sensing robot with a machine gun to assist patrolling certain areas at night.

yes, it is on its own until someone remotly turns it off.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

David. Phoenix AZ — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 05:40:11 GMT

Not Robots. As stated the "killer robot" in Iraq & Afghanistan are remotely controlled by a human operator. Without the operator these so called "killer robot" will become a sitting piece of metal and plastic. The same way cars are operated, no driver no moving vehicle. I think the best terminology to use in this topic is, Killer Drones and not Killer Robots. Does anyone agree?

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Steve V, Los Angeles, CA — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 06:42:13 GMT

Okay, I'm going to take flak for this, but here goes.

Wars, by their nature are destructive, they are messy, they are violent and costly. They are particularly costly with regard to the loss of life.

And this is why we try to avoid them. No one wants to send their sons or daughters off to war.

BUT....

If we stop sending people to fight our wars, one big incentive NOT TO FIGHT vanishes.

If we send a machine, it's just the money. War becomes even more of a balance sheet equation then it is now.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Brian in PDX — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 07:12:48 GMT

Its kind of chicken of us. Fear of death has to be prevalent of both parties for any conflict to end peacefully; otherwise you end with an oppressor and the oppressed.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Brett Johnston, HCMC, VN — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 07:14:05 GMT

I'm more scared by a multiple weapon device that could cause mass murder with computer precision resulting in a single thought or thoughtless action causing a multitude of deaths. At least with robots and possible overseers the choices will be individualized to a possible microsopic analysis of each detail at ever increased speed and with increasingly convergent actions regarding preemptive and reactive decisions. The robot can afford to be shot at before deciding the loss of human life has become inevitable or it could sacrifice itself for a bad guy who will be taken down by another non-lethal choice with the new intel provided by that robot.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

ray smith, shippensburg pa — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 07:26:43 GMT

"a robot must not merely act in the interests of individual humans, but of all humanity"......

ain't that the scary one, perhaps an autonomous robot may not see things the way "we" do!!!....rather than arm a few robots with lethal weapons arm millions of them with non lethal weapons, give em the three laws of robotics and send them onto the battle field in an effort to NOT KILL!!!....might even help us obey our own fist law!!!....so keenly forgotten when pride clouds diplomatic judgement....the international law REALLY IS AS FOLLOWS...no autonomous killing,ever....but there appears to be those rushing to grant machines power over life....jurisprudence holds the deployers of such machines guilty of murder when innocents are killed, are there any pentagon planners willing to face a death sentance when an armed mechanism incorrectly kills one of our own or an innocent civilian (same thing like it or not)??? and if you do not believe me think of all the wrongful death suits against manufactures for non-autonomous devices. Nay I say....never arm a dumb machine, it might just be smarter than you.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Mehmet, kocaeli, Tukey — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:51:08 GMT

No one can kill and demage as much as mankind!

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

AlekRomanov — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 10:41:46 GMT

This whole issue is a load of horse feces.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Dan Hranek, Ashburn, Virginia — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 11:50:17 GMT

I think a lot of people are forgetting one thing. There is no evidence as yet that a machine with a computer for a brain will ever do anything but what it is programmed to do. True arificial intelligence has not been seen anywhere and, so far, there is no proof that it will ever happen. So, the idea of machines taking over is VERY premature.

Also, I think some people have a very sad sense of priorities. They do not protest when we send our young people out to die in the military, but object to sending machines out to fight instead.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

R Verriotto — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 11:52:40 GMT

Killer robots? Really, I always thought that they would be inevitable but I didn't think that we would get there this soon.

I do have some questions for us all though. Isn't it funny how mankind has taken almost all of its technological breakthroughs and learned to weaponize it/use it for destruction? What does this say about the people we have become? If we were looking at ourselves from the outside-in and at the big picture of it all what would we say to outselves?

If we put just half of the thought into peaceful, beneficial, and practical technology then I believe the world would be a better place FOR US ALL; not just the USA. I have little faith that this will happen but I can still dream.

Mark my words, we don't need a big rock from space or other unforseen disaster. If we continue to look at the world the way we do and act the way we do as a species then we will do outselves in. There are certain things that we just are not ready for and this is pretty high on that list.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Zaphod, MD — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 12:08:03 GMT

Evil will always seek to capitalize on technology for uses other than the intended purpose. Do you think Ben Franklin would have been so keen on harnessing the power of electricity if he knew that it would someday be used to put people to death? As previously stated, we are by nature explorers, tinkerers, and generally curious. It seems inevitable that technologies of this nature will continue to form so it remains the responsibilitie of the good to always be at least one step in front of the evil.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

corey — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 12:16:18 GMT

wow I have been to iraq and just returned and I did not know there were weapon welding robots. The ones they do have are used for inspeciting vehicles and blowing up IED's. Where they should ahve them is at the bases gaurding the perimeter.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

James, MD — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 13:00:27 GMT

Excellent, fewer Americans dead, more targets dead, what's the problem?

Of course, the hysterical part of all the handwringing is that no matter how many thousands of man hours it takes to program a "conscience" into them, it would take a grunt in the field with a laptop about five minutes to remove it with another program written lacking the "conscience".

Besides, "rules" of war should be removed, the Geneva Convention reduced to toilet paper, and when leaders start rattlingt their sabers, the consequences of total war, including targeting of civilians, should weigh on THEIR conscience long before the first bombs fall.

You make war acceptable from a societal standpoint by regulating it, and it becomes a societally acceptable answer to international disputes.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Jethro Thomas, San Antonio, Texas — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 13:15:11 GMT

We're worried about autonomous weapons... NOW????

Geez, has everyone been asleep for the past 40 years? You may not technically call them "robots" but the good old ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) is a remotely detatched machine with a sizeable weapon on it that can go into battlefields half a world away....same thing as an Iraq robot with a really big battery and a really big gun.

This is a moot point.

Why argue about the albums we brought when we shouldn't even be at the party to begin with!

SuperFrogHQ

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Jason Wilder — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 13:25:00 GMT

Kill the civilians too...they are the ones the armies depend on for supplies. Kill the civilians and you hobble the military. War is evil so why do we pretend that there is a "certain morality" to war by establishing this warm and fuzzy concept of not harming civilians. Kill the source of supply and that starts with the civilian population.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Dismayed, Midland, MI — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 13:34:32 GMT

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Michael, Nashua NH — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 14:44:32 GMT

The scary thing is, these armed robots are just going to get more and more sophisticated and powerful. In the future, it may not be about training an army, it may be more about who can mass-produce military robots, with the larger number and better technology winning. A rogue country or terrorist organizaing manages to create some production facilities, and hey, they've got any army they can command without putting their own lives at risk.

How is the human race going to avoid destroying itself as this escalation spirals out of control?

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Rich, Texas — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 15:35:23 GMT

I agree with SkullTracer. We should fear these "walking statues" and put all our faith on thousands of years of postcard wisdom. When it comes to the advancement of the human race, we should put our heads in the sand and throw ancient manuscripts at the things we fear, its worked so far right? Like back a thousand years ago when knights fully decked out in armor were accused of being the said "walking statues" . Psssshhhh.

There's no room for prophecy or fear in progression. The only evil in the world is postcard wisdom.

Asimov's "four" Laws of Robotics will work in this situation I think, and could eventually solve all our problems ... as long as our definition of "human" we give the AI omits people without the capacity to think for themselves who prefer throwing ancient manuscripts at what they fear.

Robots will change everything and that is inevitable. No more manual labor, no more humans at risk (except those having ancient manuscripts thrown at them). It's just a shame that we've got drones rolling across the battlefield before we've got robots in mines or fighting fires or building infrastructure or exploring space (Mars rovers excluded). But that too is inevitable ... Invent a blue plastic cube filled with candy and the military will be using it first as a weapon.

If we didn't have stupid people throwing ancient manuscripts at what they fear, we wouldn't have war and this debate wouldn't be necessary. And even if SkullTracer and the other postcard sophists are right about prophecy, you can't do anything about it anyway ... its going to happen.

Besides ... maybe the Bible was really talking about another "statue that walks" ... like Bob Dole or Yao Ming or Charles Grodin or Dick Cheney.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Wangsidious,Niceville, Fl — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 15:36:54 GMT

The smartest in the world has the intelligence of a cockroach. People who have this fear of science and technology are simple superstitious people, many of which will live 30 years longer because of science and technology. I get that you folks are just scared and your hearts are in the right place and all, but do not be a enemy of progress. Stay out of the way, please and maybe if we are lucky science will carry us even further into the future.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Simple Simon, Bozeman, MT — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 15:39:38 GMT

With all the fear generated by:
1) global warming, 2) the cascadia plate on the West coast, 3) the expected shut down of the northern conveyer in the Atlantic, 4) 'Killer Astroids' 5) rapidly decreasing reserves of oil in the world leading to global war... etc. <name your fear here>
adding to humanity's multitude of superstious anxieties (those including Ghosts, UFO's, and the prophesied 'End of Days'), one can only determine that human's are silly creatures bent on exploiting the world until the world eventually decides it can do without us... All this fear when a beer would do.

Killer Robots are just another (and possibly quite effective) method of population reduction for an out of control meme driven host species.

(I.... have a meme. That one's mine and I'm stickin to it :)

Good luck everyone... only about 1/3 of you will survive. LOL

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Tim — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 16:06:08 GMT

"Do a research on the Bible and you will find about the statue of the Beast which walks (a robot). How would you call or describe a "robot" if you don't know what is it? "A statue that walks!""

So you're saying the Anti-Christ will be a Terminator? Yeaaaahh... I'm not really too worried that either half of that scenario will come to fruition.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Guy S. Newell — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 16:08:32 GMT

We used to call land mines or booby-traps "MAs" for Mechanical Ambush. Robots with guns are just the next logical step.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Some person — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 16:09:57 GMT

Humans: 0
Skynet: 1

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

CT, Seattle, WA — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 16:16:29 GMT

I know people start thinking it's sci-fi crap right away but this is a super slippery slope. Check out this blog and it explains the issues in a lay man and more comedic perspective - still the issues are real because the technologies are real. http://www.alienreviews.com/b/robot-revolution.htm

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Vance, Alexandria, VA — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 16:31:55 GMT

Rules and guidelines only apply to those who choose to follow them. Those who don’t care won’t. If terrorist are willing to use explosive laden humans as weapons of mass terror, how much more satisfaction would they get if they could achieve the same thing, or worse, without sacrificing one of their own.

Should there be rules of use, Yes, but we shouldn’t be naive enough to think that there would or will be universal compliance.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

MM, Bayamon, PR — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 16:33:04 GMT

Fox M.
Why did you referrence the Dec. 21 2012 date?
Do you actually believe the world is going to end in that date just cause the Mayans calendar ends there? Or because of the spybots on the web or ancient profets? Or the maybe suppose to happen earth shift?
Sorry Im not trying to be sarcastic its just that I dont see how this ads up to the topic, also things like that can cause people to panic and do horrible things. If you were being sarcastic also or just saying it as a stupid remark of our ending then ignore this and I support you. If you truly believe it then you might be ignorant

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

jo — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 16:37:00 GMT

taking the horror out of war (police) duty---war and killing turned into a vidio game???? robot or car?? war or race??-who makes best machine wins, not who is just---money (greed)will always win out-- soon the few wont even need humans to run thier machines.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Jim Webber — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 16:47:05 GMT

Very interesting, both the article and the comments. I wonder though, if "rules of use" will do more then placate nervous people, for a while? Rules of engagement have been developed for many years now, but that has not prevented the World Trade Center or any other attack on non-combatants throughout history. Mankind seems destined to use our intelligence to find ways to kill each other in support of one cause or another. It's sad to think this is nothing more then basic survival of the fitest. For all our intelligence, we really are stupid. Perhaps we may yet scare ourselves enough one day to save our species. Autonomous robots in war or anywhere else? I think I am lucky to be in my 60's. Although I will probably not see the outcome, I am very curious as to how far we take it.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Joe, Macomb, MI — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 16:47:50 GMT

SkullTracer - There is another kind of robot, it's called a "Godbot". The Godbot is programmed to make comments on blogs about the bible and god no matter the subject of the blog. Godbots are everywhere and cannot be stopped or reprogrammed for useful purposes. They are also VERY ANNOYING!

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

OmniMalev — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 16:58:18 GMT

Don't forget the part about the multiheaded beast with a bunch of eyes and faces. Maybe thats a robotic hydra!

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

remoteman, San Francisco, CA — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 17:09:04 GMT

Oh fret, fret, fret...life is just going to be like the movies...cripes what hyperbole. The Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGV's) that have been deployed with a weapon are all human controlled, just like every remote weapon system out there. It will be years and years and years (with all sorts of very public blessings) before you ever see an autonamous weapon system out there. Sharkey is a crazy alarmist. Everyone has seen Terminator. The press is going to be all over the first problem with a weaponized UGV. Whoever in the military gave the go-ahead for their use is going to lose his or her job. While these REMOTE (not robots...wrong term) systems can save lives TODAY, they are not being used because of the fear ginned up by articles like this and alarmists like Sharkey. Let him get shot at sometime, then he might be more comfortable having a remote system do the job.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

remoteman, San Francisco, CA — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 17:10:57 GMT

The UGV in the picture is a TALON, made by Foster-Miller for explosive ordnance disposal. It is not a SWORDS.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Wayne, Alamogordo, NM — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 17:21:39 GMT

War has been, and will always be, a means to an end. The end product is to have total control of a piece of dirt, an idealogy, a nation, an entire country, or even the entire world. In Iraq, we stepped right into the middle of an existing warzone where the parties at war were not aggressively fighting because Sadam Hussein would kill anyone who opposed him. By our going in and eliminating one problem though we caused another. The war is back on in Iraq with the Sunnis, Shiites, and Kurds killing each other again and were caught in the middle. These people hate each other and will continue to hate each other until the other groups are dead or until the end of time, whichever comes first. We're fighting in a war that we have no clear reason to be in and no easy way out of. I think the solution for the US in this current war is to have only robotic weapons and robotic platforms involved. If a robot, or robot controller, sees someone with a gun in a controlled area, they kill them. If they see someone placing a bomb, making a bomb, carrying a bomb, etc, they kill them. If someone is in a controlled area after curfew, they kill them. Robots are the future for our protection, and aggression, if we so choose. AI and giving a robot choices to make are two different things. I personally don't believe machines will ever be able to think for themselves because we as humans were given that gift and it's not something that can be accidentally obtained.

On a personal note, I'm ready for my automated car that drives (or flies) me back and forth to work each day. Viva le robotics!!!

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

James — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 17:30:20 GMT

The one thing I haven't heard anyone touch on here is this: The Dehumanization of Killing.

As soon as you take the killing of another human being away from direct human action, you make it not much different than a game on an ethical/moral level. It SHOULD be difficult and heart-wrenching to kill another person. You SHOULD think twice before firing that weapon. But when all you see is a small screen and little blips and never actually see the carnage and death caused by your actions, it feels no different than shooting your friend's avatar in the back while playing a Halo.

Robots would take this one step further. Send a robot into a crowd of demonstrators and have it mow them down with machine guns? Sure, why not? After all, I won't be killing them, the robot will. I can stay in my ivory tower and never witness the devastation.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Charlie — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 17:39:51 GMT

We build killer robots, they build killer robots. Now the robots are killing the other robots. So, no people are killed. We can sit in our living rooms, watching Super-Duper HD TV in 3D and the robots are out in the streets and fields autonomously destroying each other. So, is it whoever has the last robot standing wins the war? Or, is it war since no humans are involved. How do you capture and hold a robot prisoner? Is it subject to the Geneva Conventions? If you pull the memory chip out of a robot is that torture? Do the robots have rights to a military Tribunal? How is it the Miranda rights are given to a robot. Maybe the robots are programmed not to destroy other robots, only people.

Better get "Data" on the Cabinet post of Secretary of Robotic Security.

I see a film script here!

copyright 2008

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Don Langdon, Endicott N.Y — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 17:53:22 GMT

Who is to prevent a virus attacking , or anyone hacking an auotomous soldier?

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

ntyatecafe — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 18:04:17 GMT

The Bible says nothing about having chips in a hand or forehead. It refers to a "Mark", which may be physical (such as a chip, tatoo, brand, disfiguration, hair-color, eye-color, etc) or may spiritual (refusal to accept the beliefs of Christianity) in nature. No part of the bible talks about computer chips being implanted in humans. I don't recall any "Walking statues" mentioned either, but that's a moot point. Any robots deployed for this purpose will not be humanoid in appearance. A bipedal, humanoid frame is not at all practical for a mechanical system. Robots used will either be airborne, tracked, wheeled, or have at least 4, but more practically, 6 "legs" for movement. Not speaking for anyone over 4000 years dead, but me personally, if I saw a tracked, airborne, or insectoid robot without knowing what a robot actually was....'walking statue' probably wouldn't be the term I'd use to describe it.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

POV — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 18:04:25 GMT

Be careful there SkullTracer you offend somes senibilities talking about the Bible. We can't have none of that now, can we.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

T Duncan, Fenton, MI — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 18:10:09 GMT

What is the difference between an intelligent machine killing the wrong person and an artillery round going astray.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Craig Pybus, Arlington, TX — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 18:39:09 GMT

It is amazing to me that people concentrate on what horrible things you might get a robot to do and do not observe what they are currently being designed to do. They are currently being designed to save lives, which include soldier's lives:
Robots to find and disarm bombs and mines
Robots to run convoys which have become a target to ambush
Robots to automatically attack a sniper, because they are faster at identification and movement than the humans that are dying and robots are more likely to attack the correct target than the slower thinking humans. In the excitement, and not wanting to be shot, humans often shoot at anything that moves
Robots that are thrown through windows to see if the building is safe to enter rather than insuring that it is safe by throwing in a grenade.
Robot UAVs that are used for observation. Yes, some are armed and have humans deciding whether they can fire
Robots, such as the MULE, that follow behind the soldier to carry much of his supplies so that the soldier will tire less quickly and can move more rapidly.
Robots to find and retrieve wounded soldiers - a very dangerous job.

In the mean time work is progressing on:
How to automatically identify an armed combatant as compared to a non-combatant. Firing an expensive missile at anything that moves is an expensive waste of munitions and thus a stupid program that can lose a war through bankruptcy. Shooting non-combatants is counter productive. Therefore, the desire to kill just anyone is not a likely future goal.
Weapons that reduce unwanted casualties.

Note that when a sniper fires on troops, there is extreme difficulty in locating the sniper in time to fire back before he is once again hidden. Even if the robot automatically find him, the delay in telling the soldier where he is gives the sniper time to hide, move and kill again. Therefore, this task, including firing back is being automated. It doesn't fire unless the other person fires in the detectors direction, thus accurately identifying an enemy combatant. Autonomus isn't the problem.

Yes, robots could be turned loose in a crowd to kill, but currently terrorists are using the cheaper method of using a bomb in a crowd. The bomb will still be cheaper when robots are available.

Note that modifying or building a robot takes someone with intelligence, not a basket weaver or a carpenter. Because of horror movies, there are many people who do not trust the scientist or engineer. They think mad scientists don't care how their work is used, but nothing could be further from the truth. Jails are not filled with scientists and engineers. Intelligent people don't tend to be criminals. So, we are not likely to be headed for the creation of the Terminator, but instead are likely to be proceeding to Gort (the robot from "The Day the Earth Stood Still." Gort was a robot that was created to end war.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Rob, Wallingford, CT — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 18:52:08 GMT

Man should stay in the conflict...killing or destroying something remotely instead of face to face makes it easier...like a video game. It is important that when we do fight we get blood on our hands...it makes it real. I wonder how much we would fight if it was face to face with swords and such. I would suggest that conflicts would greatly decline in such a world. John Rambo does not exist...only lots of want to bes....

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Alana, Philadelphia, PA — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 18:59:45 GMT

How Could any of this be going on, I mean our taxes would SKYROCKET and no one can forget about pollution! I wouldn't even consider this idea. We can't get overly ambitious! We have so many other problems to worry about than making KILLER ROBOTS, and if we have killer robots out there what if they accidentally kill one of our own. We already have too many people dying everywhere! Why not focus on the fixable problems, before making even more problems than solutions.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

S.B. Stein E.B. NJ — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 19:07:44 GMT

When it comes to autonomous robots, combat oriented or not, we have to consider what their purpose is and who will use them. Also, how much understanding will they have of what they are to do? Will the combat robots understand that not everyone they see in combat must be killed? There is a lot of "hard to describe" programming that requires instinct. I think that there might be robots that are programmed to do certain things and can function ALONG SIDE of humans not to far in the future.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Tiddlywinks, marietta, ga — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 19:29:48 GMT

SkullTracer, I study the bible and never once made the connection of the antichrist and "a walking statue" with a robot. That actually just kinda blew my mind. I won't turn this forum into a religious debate or ones personal beliefs but the ability of a person to take the words of the Bible and apply them to current events is amazing. I applaud your free thinking!

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

PJ — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 19:35:52 GMT

I had to smile at Mr. Sharkey's reference to the "laws of war". How civilized. The only rule in war is "to win".

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Brett, Seattle, WA — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 19:37:15 GMT

Yea! Another fifty years and our kids/kids will get to live in a world of android/robot wars, Johnny Mnemonic, Matrix, Borg, Terminator, etc. etc. when robots kill robots, when will a war stop? When a country can't build any more robots? The person/beliefs that started the war will continue to thrive...but wait...that happens anyway.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Person — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 19:45:34 GMT

I would rather have mutant man-eating squirrels that have rabies than this absurd idea of KILLER ROBOTS! I mean think about it, KILLER ROBOTS? All that would bring would be higher taxes, more pollution (not that anyone ever cared about dying and killing our own planet), and more poverty! Why must we keep hurting ourselves and our home with all of these killings? We are all in such oblivion it's sad and a disgrace. I would find it to be the most honorable thing anyone would or could ever do. All they have to do is open up their door and see what's happening, and see what can be done to fix it. Then do it!

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Patrick — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 20:22:19 GMT

So which modern robot has "great political power over the whole world"? R2-D2? The T-800?

The bible was not refering to a robot in these revelation passages, it was refering to the end-times prophecy of the anti-christ. The Statue of the Beast was not a litteral statue, but the human incarnation of the devil on earth, much the same way Jesus was the human incarnation of god on earth. Further, the bible makes no mention of a chip in anyone's hand. It instead claims each person will require a number. This has lead to hysteria about everything from S.S. numbers to PIN numbers.

For someone who bemoans a lack of bible study, you show an ironic ignorance of the subject matter.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

HARLEY BOB,FORT WORTH TEX — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 20:28:47 GMT

COULD WE DRESS THEM UP LIKE SUICIDE BOMBERS?

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Evan Baxter, Richmond, VA — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 20:51:52 GMT

The problem with programming robots to follow certain laws is that they will undoubtably break those laws. Humans have instincts, and we can ignore them. Humans have laws and rules, and we break them.

Robots are built by humans. Humans will program these robots to think the way humans think. If humans break laws, the robots will break them too. We aren't creating warriors, or walking weapons, or this, or that. We are creating life from metal and wires, then proceeding to give them our knowledge and our ability to take in knowledge. We are building our metal children.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Jim Scherr — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 20:53:48 GMT

After reading your article, I see three debates:
1) Should robots have independent thought and control

A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
A robot must obey orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Michael Desrochers, Vancouver, British Columba (canada) — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 21:11:21 GMT

To play the devil's advocate and go against the idea that "war robots" is a bad idea, I will say that it could lead to something good. If the capabilities of robots exceed that of humans, then there would be no purpose to send humans into war, right? (other than for economical reasons). A war would be fought between machines, and when one side lost, and there were only men left, the otherside would win. This type of warfare could happen iff:

1): Robots exceeded the capabilities of man.
2): There was an international rule of war that prohibits the murder (not wounding or minor disabiling) of men.

There are holes in the idea, but it's a good start! What you think?

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

gde — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 21:25:25 GMT

The remotely controlled machines are called waldos, not robots. An autonomous guided missile, such as a shoulder launched IR missile, is once it is launched.

As far as morals go, just because a waldo or robot does not need to fear for its life does not mean it will behave that way. Live soldiers do a lousy job of IFFN, and waldos and robots will almost certainly do worse. IFFN = Identification, Friend, Foe, or Neutral. IFF still exists as an acronym in the US military, but IFFN seems to have been dropped completely. Often in the field, as well as in the vocabulary.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Wayne McCoy — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 21:29:13 GMT

I want someone to build Gort, the police robot in "The Day the Earth Stood Still." Then we might not have to worry about other robots going to war. Obviously, Asimov's Laws of Robotics don't apply to military robots.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Dave, Boston MA — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 21:41:17 GMT

No, no, no, no, no, no! How many dam movies and books and stories and video games do we have to make before we stop trying to make intellegent robots. It is an idea beyond dangourous. I am pro-science all the way but sometimes science is plain wrong. NO SELF AWARE ROBOTS!

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Skeptical, Virginia — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 21:49:11 GMT

What happens when enemy soldiers stumble upon a disabled robot and sieze its weapons and technology? It really can't be all that hard to replicate given a model. Given more than one model and they can easily build one good one... no?

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Tamara, London, United Kingdom — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 21:51:23 GMT

It will all end in tears.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Tom Joad — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 22:19:04 GMT

Bottom line is that a class of machines will be created and loosed, sooner or later, upon human beings. Machines that have no concept of honor, justice, compassion, mercy, pride, or fear. That do not bleed. That are afraid of nothing, and will remorselessly carry out their programmed instructions.

Machines with the truly cold blooded intent and capability to kill human beings.

The term "monstrous" does not do it justice.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Phillip Kaltenbach — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 22:23:40 GMT

I think this is ridiculous and I am no peace loving hippie at all. We should utilize technology against our opponents but I fear if we take the human aspect out of war then General R.E. Lee's famous words, "It is well that war is so terrible, or else we would grow too fond of it" would become hollow and with no human colleteral to pay the price the public would have very few qualms about attacking other countries.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

RebelPeach — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 22:36:28 GMT

Hello!! Ever seen IRobot???

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

soldier — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 22:44:12 GMT

i would trust a fully autonomous robot before i would an iraqi recruit... for those that oppose. go over there and find out.

in reference to skulltracer... if we as humans are dumb enough to let a robot rule our kind, we should deserve whatever fate may come with it.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Peter Franolic, union, new jersey — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 22:47:34 GMT

I assume these robots are being deployed in the battlefield to reduce risks to human soldiers and make war less horrible. But war should be as horrible as possible if there is to be any incentive to avoid it. If we make war "safe" for humans there will probably be a constant state of war with no reason to resolve differences since the only casualties will be machines.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

charles queen somerset kentucky — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 22:53:33 GMT

Well no matter what we like or want the military machine will go ahead with the robotics as planned and it will succeed to a certain point and it's just a matter of time before they understand and create artificial intelligence that can learn and understand the future will be interesting to say the least

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Christopher, st paul, mn — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 22:53:37 GMT

Oh the irony of the day when two factions send their robots at each other to wage war and the robots refuse to attack because the situation in general is unethical.

"Sorry master, you will have to resume negotiations, invalid target for attack. Acknowledge/submit."

Can you picture robots with ethics used by Israilies or their enemies?

Constant messages of "Civilian casualties likely, target invalid. Acknowledge/submit" would drive their "military strategists" up the friggin wall. I know its a serious situation but its also a really really messed up one.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Wild Bill, Corpus Christi, TX — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 22:56:54 GMT

As a Vietnam Veteran my take on this issue of robots in combat controled by a human is that it is very effective weapon that would reduce casalties in a war. As to turning them lose on their own one needs to remember that the robot will have only the ethics and rules of engagement of the government or person that programs the machine. The genie is alredy out of the bottle and the technology will be developed by friend and foe alike as a tool of war. We had better be ready to excell and stay ahead of the technology needed in this area as this type of technology and warfare will be the future of conflicts. Jesus in the Bible says there will be wars and rumors of wars until He returns and man in his sin and fallen state has always strived to create a better killing machine.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

G. Anthony Postin — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 22:57:58 GMT

Amazing! We wonder if this is good or bad! Humans in control will cause it to be a problem and we one is ever built to think on its own, may God have mercy on us! Where has all the common sense gone?

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

arzach — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 22:58:12 GMT

I never understand debates like this. Great fodder for novels and doctoral theses, but where does the miracle occur that allows robots to develop true autonomous self-direction? Whatever a robot does is programmed by a human, no matter how sophisticated the action. If it behaves unethically, that's a programming error traceable to a human. If it synthesizes original actions based on analysis of environmental data, a human wrote the algorithm that allows it to do so. I've never seen a cogent argument that explains how self-awareness could occur in a machine. Not surprising as we barely have a clue about our own consciousness. What reason would a completely autonomous robot have for turning on humanity? A truly conscious machine would not have most human motivations as imputed by their behavior in the bulk of literature. Robots are a mirror of humanity, not a potential successor. Xenophobic projection is at the root of such fallacious reasoning in my opinion.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

faith — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 23:04:27 GMT

Humm!!! This is all very interesting in case I missed something. How would a robot with weapons know the difference of who it was killing. I mean there sending it to kill people not other robots.

If it were just other robots that were to be killed what is the point of the war. Don't think were playing a computer game here.

I don't think it's a good idea for them to be left to think on there own. They need humans that can mess up there programs. Which means softwear that is easy to use and can't be hacked or changed.

This is all so interesting.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Yum Yum — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 23:13:01 GMT

WTH are the laws of war??? The term would be laughable if it wasn't so sad.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

A Pike — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 23:13:54 GMT

Robot warrior $10 million, RPG $500. (Those numbers have not been authenticated by anyone with any real authority in the area of arms procurement!) Not much of a gain there! Why aren't all these millions of dollars and hours of research going to solving the fundamental problems behind wars in the first place? As for 'rules of war', there are none. A soldier's job is to murder another (as many as possible actually) human being. Imagine having rules for how to do that. (The Geneva Convention is for dealing with prisoners, not for battle fields.) That being said, I am NOT anti-soldier in any way, shape, or form. They are the real heroes of society, and deserve far better post-war treatment than they get. Instead of paying millions out to some entertainment personality or CEO, reverse the salaries... who's more important in the end... someone who can play a sport or someone who defended the society that provides us with our right to spout off on topics like this!?!?

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Don Indpls In — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 23:18:23 GMT

We have robotic bomb finders, unmanned aerial drones,vacuum cleaners,car painting devices,the list goes on.Why people are so surprised is a mystery to me.The only flaw in the whole design is the human factor.That is what gets people killed,hurt,maimed,etc.Humans,with the best of intentions,(inventors,builders of these devices)are doing this to aid mankind,like helping the physically impaired,give an eye on the battlefield,as not to put soldiers at risk from IEDs.Unfortunate for the good people of the world,however,are those who will pervert that technology,and turn it in to "Skynet" as one posting individual,so eloquently put it.Truth of it is,we are right in the middle of the Star Trek of the 60's.(Showing my age).This is where we are,I for one,do not even know how to text on my phone,and am happy to keep it that way.My Dad dismissed Star Trek,as "a flight of fancy,bunch of codswallop",now,over 70,he has GPS,a cell phone,more advanced than mine.When reminded of his reaction to Capt.Kirk,he has a memory fade.Hmmm,imagine that.Well,folks,it's here.It may neato stuff,just remember,the human factor is what resulted in Adam and Eve getting chucked from the Garden of Eden

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Ira Miller, Freehold NJ — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 23:22:43 GMT

I think the focus needs to remain on using Autonomous robots to SAVE human lives, not take human lives. For example, a ground patrol is under fire, calls for backup and autonomous robots respond to the direct threat, then 'arm down' until the next one. Autonomous weapons systems should be defensive, not offensive in order to limit the concerns and scope of their operations.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

S Scheider — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 23:22:47 GMT

Robots? The Navy has been using AEGIS for quite a while (see http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/systems/aegis.htm ). It is the superior killer. I'm sure the ground forces want something similar.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

W Madsen — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 23:27:48 GMT

In a world where even small children can be used as weapons of war who will ultimately decide what are appropriate targets. Maybe I am cynical but its arrogant to assume that these types of systems couldn't be compromised in regards to who and what they are programmed to recognize as an enemy. In the province of war it is we humans who should always be the ones deciding when to fire and when not to. Im thinking that a person's attitude toward these kinds of weapons systems would be vastly different if you were making a fortune on them or if they were pointed at you. Anyone who has ever dealt with glitchy software probably sees my point. Machines don't suffer from moral and ethical issues and much of the time and neither do the people who stand to profit from the easy elimination those who oppose them. Imagine these machines having the right to keep and bear arms after we have lost ours. Let man fight his own battles.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

chris, somewhere, in trash ville — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 23:39:33 GMT

Its terminator all over again
we need to go back to skynet with super muscle terminator
then hide
while there is world destruction

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

James Hurney, Frederick, MD — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 23:43:58 GMT

So here we are again where rest of world is going to gather and talk if American robots are moral. What do they care, it's not their fathers,wives, sons and daughters placing themselves in harms way. Where are their troops? Yes there are so nation helping us, but very few.
I was asked by my daughter once "daddy why are there wars". I gave the standard answer about evil men and conflict, like in the movie(We Where Soliders),that rode on my mind for weeks. The answer is so simple, It's the politician's failure to due their job in the first place. When they fail and send people off to die they have the gall to tell the troops how to do it. Show me in what war has American troops been treated humanly. Those who never have been to war can't really comprehend the horrors of war. We as a nation have stood up for the rights of others, but we are getting tired of doing it alone and footing the bill. If we can but robots in war I say do it and hell with self-rightous people trying to place moral concepts on a immorle act.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Helen L.A. Ca. — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 23:48:04 GMT

Ultimately, no one will send their children into battle if a machine can do it. We will insist on the robots to do that dirtiest of jobs. Those afraid of unintended or intended violence should certainly flee from the battle zone, and we must help them escape that in every way we can.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

J Shy, Detroit, MI — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 23:48:29 GMT

Wow, this is one potentially hot topic! It boggles the mind to even think about all of the questions a thinking being would have. For instance, is there such a thing as a humane way to kill your enemy? As for the rules of war, that is an oxymmoron if I ever heard one. How about the Japanese general who said that it was hypocritical to bad mouth the U.S. for using the atom bomb because you could bet that if Japan had access to it they would not have hesitated to use it. Let's face it, if a war is worth fighting it is worth winning. By losing sight of this fact the U.S. lost in Korea, (Truman, MacArthur and the Yalu river) Viet Nam, (Laotian and Cambodian borders) Afghanistan (Loss in progress) and Iraq.(Also in progress) The point being, if you feel you must get involved in an armed conflict then don't hold back, it should be balls to the wall or nothing. If the use of a particular weapon in your arsenal will shorten the war and save lives on either side there is no valid reason not to employ it.(Atom Bomb)The only way you can poossibly hope to prevent the bad guys from developing ang using the same type of weapons in an indiscriminate manner is to make them afraid to! The proper use of robotic weapons has, can, and will save the lives of U.S. troops. Should it be? duhh

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

corbin,seatle,wash — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 00:06:17 GMT

these cyborgs will not over power us and we control them.we will kick ass without these cyborgs... sure there cool as in skynet... but they are loyal..
and the world will not end in 2012 in 7.2 billion years says scientists.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Amy Heinze,Lubbock ,Texas — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 00:21:34 GMT

I reckoned that war even with robots are profitable with businesses. So i reckoned that in the event of the robots being sent out to be shot at..is better than a human being shot at. However,what about educating a GREAT nation and fighting for healthcare....in a system where no one gives a toss about education or the health of a so called GREAT nation ..that neglects to educate its people.....and producing a healthy nation. Am all for robotic fighters...but one needs to educate and give sustainace to its people.....for if these basic things are not given to the nation.....then all there is......is a sick and uneducated nation......as we have learnt from the world wars....

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Peaced Out in Chicago — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 00:24:25 GMT

REMOTEMAN - You have a lot of knowledge regarding these issues and thank you for sharing with us.

Question: is this why the present administration created that "Cyber Wars" act (I have to go digging through archives on another PC to find the articles from last year.) I remember reading about this Virtual War act & thinking "hmm so they proposing to use AI robots or some such in the future?"

And regardless of what you say/said about Sharkey, SOMEONE has to run checks and balances and talk the other side of the coin. If you think a HUMAN can not make an inhumane call and cause harm via remote control, then I suggest you step back a bit and rethink the entire issue, please. Years and years. Yes. But it was years and years ago that I can recall when only cash was king at the local 5 & dime store, LONG before automated checkouts & Debit Cards in everyones hand. Your thoughts on the Cyberwars "Act" covering Congress actions would be appreciated. Meanwhile, going to find those articles.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Mercy — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 00:29:04 GMT

dehumanization the human race ... one TECHNOLOGICAL step at a time! (finds a tree to hug while they still exist) side note: anyone think to include TREE "seeds" in the everlasting vault of earth planthood in the artic? (just thought of that)

O Planet Earth - where art thou? You are no longer what you were meant to be. And your main inhabitants, your "caretakers" are the cause of your calamity.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Observer - Miami, FL — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 00:31:00 GMT

PJ truly said: rules of war (or rather RULE of war) ... WIN! You do not fight a war to lose, well, unless thats your monetary intent.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Xavier, Radcliff, Kentucky — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 00:43:11 GMT

I think far too many people put too much emphasis on restraining the U.S. military, especially their own American people. If a robot can be beneficial to the operational efficiency of the military, let the military have access to that technology. We shouldn't tie the hands of the military out of blind devotion to anti-war, no matter what. If we limit technology because it's "morally objective or questionable," how would we defend ourselves against an enemy who uses "Terminators?" We developed nuclear weaponry not to use it, but to prevent others from using what they do have. Sadly, we're facing an enemy that cares only for the destruction of non-Islamic cultures and people. Instead of telling our own military what they can or can't do, why don't we try telling that to religious barbarians who pervert their own religion out of personal gain. Robots, whatever type, can be beneficial.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

J. Rokke, Birmington, AL — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 00:46:15 GMT

1st: MAN is not without ERROR - even if he is not with evil intent

2nd: speaking of the AEGIS system ^^

The ongoing news in Japan for the last 2 weeks made ONE small USA headline under International news (you know the area no one bothers with, usually) - the new glorious Japan Naval carrier equipped with AEGIS decided to IGNORE the radar and literally run over a fishing boat, killing the father and son aboard .. who WERE running correct lights. Without giving the long drawn out story, it has been found out that the crew INTENTIONALLY ignored the radar even with additional visual sighting of the boat. Since they just spent time avoiding 3 other boats, they "didnt feel it necessary" to avoid collision with this 4th boat and "thought" the boat would be aware of their presence (at 4a.m. in cloudy weather) & avoid getting hit by the ship. In short, the crew acknowledges being aware & did NOT take evasive action as per Naval rules. (Japans Navy is in trouble for this one! And they SHOULD be. Along with giving AEGIS a bad name in Japan.)

So whats all this talk about not worrying about "killer robot" technology having no problems? that we are over-worried? Oh thats right! Dont worry because theres some guy controlling them! No problem!

Hmm but wait theres that thing human err & possible evil intent ... better make the warbots more autonomous. (Of course, how interesting, there is the TV series of "Terminator" Was surprised that one came out of the blue! "why would they pick THAT movie for a series?" More Hollywood prepping of the peoples minds for their future.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

william coultas sr — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 00:47:45 GMT

A1's. Nah; never happen. Someone will always have to program. And those programmers will never be smart enough. Too may if's.....bill

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

me again — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 00:50:56 GMT

S Scheider - Agree with your point. But please see the post about the Japan AEGIS Naval vessel that PURPOSEDLY ignored the radar and ran over, killing 2 fisherman at sea who were obeying all the rules ... they had them on radar, they had them on visual, but "didnt feel it necessary to avoid collision ... the boat would HAVE to get out of their way" -- and that is just ONE small reason why people do not trust technology, with or without human decision. (Which in this case the decision was to ignore warnings.) In the end, bots autonomous or not, it will be HUMANS ultimately making the calls.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Aragon, Gondor, Middle Earth — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 01:07:26 GMT

Who can say for certain A.I.'s are not being developed? It is wrong to create robots that kill! Computers will surpass man in thought processes within the next decade and they will have the capability to take over. We will make it easy for them in our always connected networked world. Tie major defense systems to a supercomputer, and the path is set. The first people who will be "taken out" will be the ones who always have a cell phone in their ear. Your GPS and Cell Phone will identify who and where you are 24/7. With nanotechnology and super conductors, anything will be possible. In man's never ending goal to speed up processing and upload and download data faster we will keep making more powerful chips. Let's face it, if the U.S. doesn't do it, the Chineses or the Russians certainly will. And those people have no conscious or morals. Man's destiny is to be a slave to the machine.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Gary k smith manchester uk — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 01:12:25 GMT

well if man thinks it we eventually do it. as for robors ok it is enevitable, they may be used for war does that mean they are bad...no.
think of all the other uses they have that will save human lives..mining , building , space exploration and not to mention the potential for companionship...think how many people live alone in this world.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Mark, St. Louis — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 01:29:19 GMT

Surprised at autonomous robots being armed? ...No. Science fiction writers have been warning us for decades.
There are two things here that do surprise me. One is people thinking autonomous means self-aware. Autonomous robots are not self-aware nor are they very intelligent. But give them a gun and and they don't need to be either to be very very dangerous.
The other thing is the concept of robots fighting robots. That will only happen when one side is defending humans. These machines are or will be designed to kill humans. The purpose of war is to force the other side to do what you want. People are going to die, no matter how many robots get in the middle.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

treehugger, philadelphia, pa — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 01:30:03 GMT

Research everything before you write an article... including what picture you are putting up. This one is mislabeled, the last one was mislabeled, and the update says the last one was "a machine designed for explosive ordnance disposal rather than for shooting an enemy." It actually can be equipped with a gun but it's number one intent is for surveillance.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

E.T. Pinell — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 02:00:00 GMT

Not to worry global warning, polution, and shortage of food will kill man kind off before the robots get us.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

CTill, Jacksonville, FL — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 02:15:43 GMT

Kinda gives a whole new meaning to "Blue Screen of Death".

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Carlos Prieto, Holcomb, Kansas — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 02:32:42 GMT

Can you say the Matrix! We are putting to much intelligence into these machines that will one day over power and over think us. Trust me this day will come true! Start looking for the ONE!

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

ARNOLD SWARTZENGERMAN — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 02:34:51 GMT

the terminator did say,"I'LL BE BACK."

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Mike, Baltimore MD — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 02:55:29 GMT

Hasta La Vista Baby!

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

computer scientist — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 02:58:27 GMT

Mark my words, if we reach the point where technology allows us to build autonomous robots, there will eventually and unavoidably be a crisis. Just look today at the countless number of computer viruses that have been created by hostile yet intelligent people who are only looking to cause trouble. If similar people in the future could modify existing robots or build new robots to perform harmful actions, there will eventually be harm to people and property.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Alan Boyle — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 03:19:51 GMT

Wow, Treehugger, now you have me spooked! I've double-checked the caption information from AP and found a misspelling in the engineer's name, which I've fixed, but as far as I can tell we've got the robot right this time. I'm also going by what Remoteman told me about the device we had initially pictured ... and that all sounded plausible, especially since it was equipped with a claw. Nevertheless, I've rewritten the update to avoid saying anything too expansive. You guys really know your robots ... which proves once again that there are always readers out there who know more about any given subject than I do.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Cyrano — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 03:48:50 GMT

It's funny. Everyone is going on and on about Cyberdyne Terminator-series robots. However, given the way the Army is using their robots, and that they hope to build ethics or a code of conduct into them, a far more relevant comparion would be to Keith Laumer's Bolo warrior machines. The Army isn't even at the Bolo Mark II level yet, much less to the fully-autonomous Bolo Mark XVs that were not truly self-aware, or to the Mark XXs that WERE. It will be awhile before we need to worry about tracked or wheeled vehicles with cannon and armor plating coming after us, I think. And as long as the Army's mechanical marvels are as ethical as the Bolos, I would not worry much even then.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Mr Natural — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 03:51:10 GMT

If Hitler had robots would we all be speaking German? If there is no need for humans on the field of battle then who's to win the hearts and minds of the opponent? Or are we cynically anticipating endless warfare to protect our crumbling world advantage?

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

MadScientist — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 03:52:34 GMT

Whats the difference between RC race cars that have been out for years and a drone or military robot? Technically there is still no true battlefield AI, everything is just GPS and RC. The Terminator is still way off down the road(2060?) and by then I'll be in a nursing home taking a dump on the floor for my cleaning robot.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Jules — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 04:01:44 GMT

What is wrong here, we are already killing innocent people by the thousands in Iraq, there is no difference in how we do , we just do it, Very Very sad and now our government is training thousands of Latinos in Georgia to be commando killers ( secret )to safe guard our streets, it is now becoming a policed state..........

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Elaine Parny, Starkville, Mississippi — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 04:02:01 GMT

In the book The Age of Spiritual Machines, Ray Kurzweil speaks of the time coming when machines will be teching and programming machines and there will be no need for humans to maintain them.

I think that puts an interesting slant on this dialogue.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Justin — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 04:04:01 GMT

About time to get some real killbots on the battlefield.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

U.S.NAVY Norfolk, Va. — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 04:15:21 GMT

What next? are they going to give name, rank and serial number? who salutes who?

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

T Bag, Northampton, Massachusetts — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 04:17:50 GMT

I think that this is a very sensitive and serious issue. However, as to the "Terminator" quote, I believe that Warfare Robots will be a good thing. They're moreintelligent and more intimidating than humans and I believe they will help end conflicts faster, so long as they don't become "self-aware" like Skynet and kill us all...

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

mike, youngstown, ohio — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 04:29:34 GMT

can you say what are the three laws of robotics? or am i a relic

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Tracy Beh — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 04:29:48 GMT

To the amazement of robotics programmers, robots in testing phases are capable of "cannabalising" their fallen comrades' parts and rebuilding themselves up with superior capabilities. So all things are possible with robotics. It just requires the will and access. Maybe it's the new religion? :)

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

R. B. Chandler, Arcosanti, AZ — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 04:33:50 GMT

It is not just robots for the battlefield. In time robots of every kind will creep into society. They will become our personal companions and servants (slaves). We will give them artificial intelligence and then require that they don't think for themselves. When a robot does grow or act outside its programming we will consider it defective. The story about Candy Apple a personal companion android on the web (www.candyapple.galacticenterprise.com) deals with just such an issue and how in the future we will abuse the robots into which we breathe the spark of life. Then to think of the robots and androids we will put on the battlefield in the name of saving human lives... There is no such thing as a moral battlefield robot as long as its programming can be overridden by a human operator and a battlefield robot with a real set of morals could refuse to fight and I doubt that any country would want an army of robots that could refuse to fight in a senseless war. Sure sending robots and androids out as replacements for human soldiers on the battlefield will cut down on the rape, pillage, and plundering, but they could also walk into a village and kill every living thing without thought or remorse. This could take "just following orders" to a whole new level. Then there will be the robots that just go off the deep end all on their own and to stop them you just might have to wait for it to run out of missiles and bullets. No, we don't need to be giving robots guns but we will anyway.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Faith Long Lost, Prince Frederick, MD — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 04:52:11 GMT

I don't trust the powers that be. I bet they will build in an override of the conscience subroutine.

And, if sending our people to fill and be killed in another country breeds more outrage against us, imagine what outrage sending killer machines will inspire. Sow it and Reap!

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

margaret heekin — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 04:54:36 GMT

Having taken an oath to preserve life, I am very disturbed by the concept of killer "bots". It seems to me, if half the ingenutity and brain power went into diplomatic or humanitarian solutions as is going into new and improved ways to destroy life, someone could think of something that would actually work. While i realize war is a fact of the human condition, it appears that we take a little too much pleasure in promoting it as " the soultion". Machines can no doubt reduce casualties in hazardous conditions ie bots used to diffuse or explode bombs etc, however, the intensive efforts to develop better, faster and more lethal war machines will only escallate the present conflicts. Past experience will tell us it is only a temporary solution which will eventually reemerge yet again. As for those nations who are willing to promote homocide bombing, the or otherwise not abide by any rules, the concequences are incalculable.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

tfurgerson, St. Louis, MO — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 04:56:43 GMT

It's my job, Carl, to make sure one of the tribes doesn't get an unfair advantage over another. - Officer Tenpenny, GTA SA. Seems to me the "tribe" with the killer robots has an unfair advantage, as the robots could slaughter opposing armies. They need to be stopped, before they become "invincible".

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Chuck, Castlewood Va. — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 05:33:38 GMT

I am a veteran. I have sat in a bunker, in the dark, not being able to see what’s out there. Walked through the jungle not knowing what was 20, 30, 100 feet in front of me. What you guys are talking about mostly are machines that are remotely operated or monitored. The question is self aware. To have a conscience you must be self aware. Something that could see better, shoot better, (I’m expert by the way) and I could depend on for information. Sign me up! Give it every unit. I can even see myself talking to it. Giving it a name. But there’s the rub isn’t it. When the “remote” machines we use become humanized. When it knows more than we do. One of you talked about the “programmed”, one talked about autonomous, but in the end what you fear is self aware. When it can act and react faster and smarter than you. Anything that is remotely operated can be hacked. Now which one would you want standing beside you. The one that just turns and shoots? Or the one that says “ Sir someone is trying to hack my system, I am shutting down now to reboot? Will we build it, yes. Will we use it ,yes. Will it become # 46, or Bob 23, or Sara, yes. Will it be in the far, far future? No, we went from cars to planes, to men in space in way less than one hundred years. I guess it depends on how they will look at how we treated them as to how they may treat us. I for one would call him my friend, I sure wouldn’t want him as my enemy. If we dream it, talk about it. Have a movie about it, we will do it. The first cell type phone was seen on Star Trek maybe sooner. Shortly after that we are using them. Autonomous robot….. It’s just a model T ford.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

James Craft — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 06:22:26 GMT

When you create more ways to kill you create more victoms ... who knows where this will end up. The Future danger is in a AI taking over the immediate danger is that this will be mis used and innocents will die.... Again we as a Race roll the dice on our future and the stakes are no less than the lose of human life...

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

steve — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 07:15:41 GMT

To me, the danger isn't necessarily in the machine becoming TRULY self aware, but in becoming sufficiently sofisticated as to APPEAR to be self aware...it's just a matter of time.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

R. Goodwin, Madrid, Spain — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 07:16:33 GMT

Remember, when push comes to shove and anyone's back is against the wall, FACT is, "What Ethics? We don't need NO Stinking Ethics".

Mankind has two primary basic natures, first is to Dominant and Kill; Second, when ones life or countries life is in danger, do Anything no to Die.

And some cultures have been programmed to give their precious life to battle any perceived danger. We see how their Robots are programmed, don't we.

Today there are no Ethics, and possibly never have been.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

brandon mccullough, Cassville, MO — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 07:51:05 GMT

Why does everyone think that terrorist are going to be wanting to try to capture or make there own killer robots? Their religion believes that by making yourself a mytar that you secure yourself a place in heaven. This is why they are so willing to stap a bomb to themselfs and go explode themselfs somewhere. They want to be killed for the honor and i think they would have no interest in sending a robot to carry out there so called holy war. Let the robots get sucide bombed. And for those who think that some uneducated terrorist in iraq is going to be able to reprogram a robot from the most advanced army on the planet is ignotrant. Wars are always going to happen, it is human nature to fight...why not make it a little less costly. What i want to know is what happens when the enemy gets hold of some sort of EMP weapon?

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

R. Goodwin — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 08:08:30 GMT

One thing for sure, both sides will have to PROGRAM their Robots with the same Ethics. We know how terrorest are presently PROGRAMMING their Robots, they just blow up everyone.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Anti-Terminater Crystal Lake Ilinois — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 14:06:38 GMT

As long as the Robots are controlled by people, and not conected by a internet network or that type of thing, what could go wrong. Besides, Terminator was a MOVIE, liquid metal and bullet proof machines dont exist, neither do lazer guns that they tote as they go about through the wreckage of the cities of the world kiling humanity. If anything robots are the next step in tech. advancment.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Rob, Philadelphia, PA — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 14:35:52 GMT

Killer autonomous robots are inevitable.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Scott, West Bend, WI — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 21:27:38 GMT

I enjoy killer robots. I've been using them to do my bidding for many years with great success.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Frank Glover Rochester, NY — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 00:23:09 GMT

"I think an important advantage that a robot soldier (either autonomous or remote controlled) has over a human soldier is that the robot would not be fearing for his life. Many situations where civilians and innocents are killed arise because a human soldier comes under attack, fears for his own safety, and fires back without actually knowing who attacked him. A robot would not be under the same "fight or die" pressure and could take more time to evaluate the situation."

On the other hand, as these are not now (and may be less so in the future) cheap, easily replaceable machines, it only makes sense to give them a meaningful degree of 'self preservation.'

Even under Asimov's Three Laws, a robot could do so, where human orders and safety were not factors, and this is one situation he imagined with a robot that was somewhat more valuable than most:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runaround

And steve...

"If we send a machine, it's just the money. War becomes even more of a balance sheet equation then it is now."

Sometimes wars *are* simply won by bankrupting the opposition (arguably the Cold War ended that way). But that just leads back to my above point. Some machines are less replaceable than people. Not in a moral/ethical way, but in a purely practical sense. You can always find more pilots to train, but just try to replace a lost B-2...

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Dave N., Centennial, Colorado — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 07:26:22 GMT

I'm a retired cognitive scientist and AI researcher, my graduate training at CMU, who used to work for a large government contractor. The gentleman who writes that Autonomous Ground Vehicles aren't imminent is misinformed. Autonomous Airborn Vehicles are already being used in modern warfare in limited ways. I have not worked with Autonomous Undersea Vehicles, but their development is almost certainly continuing at a rapid pace.

At the Dartmouth Conference commemorating 50 years of U.S. AI research held in July, 2006 (50 years after the famous Dartmouth AI Workshop that defined AI as a scientific discipline in July, 1956), three of the talks given dealt with ethical issues that must be addressed by AI. It is no coincidence that the Defense Department's Advanced Research Projects Agency (then called ARPA, now DARPA) funded much of AI research in its early years; a DARPA spokesman was present at the 2006 conference to solicit new ideas for AI research, and he was willing to listen to anything the conference attendees had to say.

The Winter, 2007 (Vol. 28, #4) issue of AI Magazine (published by and for members of AAAI, the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence) featured as its cover article "Machine Ethics: Creating an Ethical Intelligent Agent" by Michael Anderson & Susan Leigh Anderson. Questions are being asked and studied. Whether the right questions are being asked and being studied in sufficient depth with a serious commitment to understanding them is ultimately a matter of funding. I wouldn't expect DARPA to spend a significant percentage of its AI R&D budget on questions relating to creating autonomous with advanced ethical capabilities.

AI researchers build machines to get a job done. If that job can be done with a powerful computer that isn't very versatile -- which is to say, doesn't have much general purpose intelligence (see Deep Blue, the chess playing system that beat world champion Gary Kasparov in May, 1997 for an example of a very effective AI tool with no general purpose intelligence at all) -- it WILL be done with a special purpose system the behavior of which can most readily be predicted and relied upon.

Intelligent autonomous agents are being used in warfare to a very limited extent at this time. As research produces better robots for desired jobs, those robots will be built, tested, and deployed in warfare. Almost no military technology has ever been developed and not used, including chemical and biological agents (the use of biological warfare dates back many centuries, to the catapulting of plague victims over the walls of entrenched positions; chemical warfare was practiced in the last Iran-Iraq conflict, among many others).

Technology will advance. There is no stopping it. The genie that will become intelligent autonomous agents began seeping out of its bottle with Charles Babbage's designs of his Analytical Engine, and arguably much earlier than that.

Albert Einstein observed that our technology has outstripped our humanity. If we can't rein in the former, then we must concentrate very hard on the latter. We must become a more ethical species. Indeed, we must come to think of ourselves AS A SPECIES rather than as thousands of fragmented groups with competing goals and interests.

If we want to prevent whatever horrors autonomous machines will introduce into warfare, we must prevent warfare itself.

This is not without precedent.

The human race has fought only ONE nuclear war, World War II, and in that conflict nuclear weapons were used to end the war (at least, such was the intent). In the 63 years since August 6 and August 9 of 1945, we have managed to avoid fighting another nuclear war. We have avoided it by the thinnest of margins at times, but there is an understanding among many of the world's nations that nuclear war is a last resort, a surrendering of our humanity to embrace death on a global scale.

Perhaps we will have to fight one advanced robotic war before we come to understand the implications of it. Perhaps we will edge slowly towards a conflict that is so terrible the people of the world will agree never to use such weapons again -- until they are ready to surrender their fundamental humanity and embrace death on a global scale.

Ultimately, the answer is to abolish warfare entirely. Those who are familiar with old science fiction films will remember the solution reached by a federation of planets in "The Day the Earth Stood Still": to give up the freedom to behave irresponsibly (i.e., aggressively) and to create a peacekeeping force the authority of which could not be revoked. This is one idea that has been suggested, in fiction. We need real ideas and the actions to back them up, in fact.

The builders of intelligent robots will continue to do their jobs so that one day we may have advanced autonomous teachers, doctors, and laborers at jobs too dangerous for human beings to perform. Imagine incorruptible lawyers, judges, and legislators who can access incredibly huge libraries of knowledge and information and assist us in making crucial decisions about our way of life; they need not be in control, but simply advisors with judgment that augments our own.

However, first our humanity has to start catching up with our technology. I have ideas about how to do that. So do you. Let us sit down together and talk about it, reasonably and rationally, so we can find areas of agreement.

Let us do it now. The advancement of technology is speeding up and it will continue to do so. Cognitive science offers a degree of hope in that regard. We study intelligence in people, not just computers, so that we may better understand ourselves. We are coming to understand human behavior and the human central nervous system, even as we study how to make machines that can reason, learn, use natural language, and perceive. We're learning how WE are put together, what our strengths and weaknesses may be, and that is putting us in better touch with our humanity.

You can imagine how many years you have to spend in school to be able to understand both human and artificial intelligence. More of us have to spend those years in school, pursuing excellence in the sciences and the humanities alike; we need ethicists as much as we need cognitive neuroscientists and ontological engineers.

We are not ready for the future. It's time to change that.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Expelliarmus, OH — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 13:36:23 GMT

SkullTracer needs to read SNOPES on the subject of bio-chips.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Expelliarmus, OH — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 13:39:22 GMT

To wit:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/mondex.asp

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Allen, USA — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 17:52:26 GMT

Ha! Cowards! I faced down many of these evil nasties (auto machine guns with electric eyes) in Halflife 2. No problem if you have enough granades... oh, and lives.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Stacie Higdon, Los Lunas, New Mexico — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 18:52:22 GMT

As long as these robots don't hurt us and they are controlled by humans then I am Ok with that. Can these robots really help us?

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Rob, Seattle WA — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 20:04:21 GMT

Am I the only one who sees the absurdity in going to war with only robots? There's motivation to avoid war because of the casualties. If we eventually envolve to the point where robots are fighting robots on the battlefield with no human casualties, what would be the point of the war in the first place?? You might as well put the government leaders who started the war in front of an Xbox and have them fight it out themselves.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Isaac Painter, Layton, Utah — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 20:27:48 GMT

I agree that everyone has been asleep for the past 40 years! The world of warfare has already gone from human held guns to uncontrolled warfare. Like one comment before said, "They may not be called robots..." but surely a nuke is an uncontrolled situation that can kill innocent people. Just as a robot given a gun can possibly kill innocent people. Both are aimed at an opponent but whether or not that opponent is really the opponent neither can tell.

I am not saying that robotics should be implemented because we have already done worse ethically. I am trying to make a point that those ethical bounds have already been passed and we need to look at the effect that those have had on the world. We need to consider the impact nuclear warfare has played already and then consider how robotics in warfare could make matters worse.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

CP PHX AZ — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 21:35:35 GMT

AI IS ALREADY HERE....SAW A SHOW BOUT A YEAR AGO ON 60 MINUTES SOME GUY HAS MADE SMALL MINI ROBOTS W AI...THEY ARE CRAZY THEY ARE IN THE SHAPE OF BUGS SMALL BUGS LIKE SAY A BEETLE OR A ROACH...WAS NUTS THEY HAD NO BATTERIES NO SOLAR ENERGY WAS ALL AI THEY WOULD WALK ON THERE OWN AND TURN ON THERE OWN...GETTING SMARTER AS THEY GROW...IT WAS CRAZY...SO BELIEVE IT FOLKS AI IS HERE...ITS JUST UNDERGROUND NOT MANY PEOPLE KNOW OF IT...THE ROBOTS ARE HERE ITS JUST A MATTER OF TIME NOW..............

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

James Wheeler, Denver, CO — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 23:04:23 GMT

My fear is that with a robotic army does humanity then forget the horrors of war. Does it just become a game being played on some far away battlefield. Do we loose more of ourselves when we forget that Americans-people die in these conflicts.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

sensational — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 00:59:44 GMT

the quantity of sheep in these posts is disturbing.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Bill, Memphis, TN — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 05:13:36 GMT

I'm sick to death of war.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Noel Sharkey — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 09:51:14 GMT

There are some clear misuderstandings of my position in from this article.

First, I am not talking about super-intelligent robots having minds of their own. We are nowhere near that. I am talking about robots not bright enough to be called stupid making life and death decisions while not having the necessary discriminative power to tell an innocent from a combatant. Of course we want to protect our soldiers, but not at the expense of the lives of innocents.

Second, just read the US military roadmaps (you can find them all on the internet) and you will see the plans to get autonomous robot weapons as quickly as possible. Billions of dollars are being spent on this development. Just read it for yourselves.

This is not a robot takeover - they are not smart. It is a new destructive weapon that may outdo the landmine in its killing potential.

This may protect some soldiers in the short term at a cost of innocents but read the news reports about the developments world wide. The massive plans by the US are likely to intiate a arms race to put these robots out before they are ready (at great profit). Then US soldiers and innocent will also have to face perhaps poorer quality robots.

If you think that this is alarmist I ask you to google
autonomous military robot roadmap and see what you think then.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Rob, Ohio — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 05:01:32 GMT

Quoting Rich in Texas:

"... as long as our definition of "human" we give the AI omits people without the capacity to think for themselves who prefer throwing ancient manuscripts at what they fear"

Nice. So people who believe in the Bible shouldn't be defined as human? LOL.. I hope you aren't one of the geeks programming the AI..

Personally, I think how great it would be to have a bunch of run-amok robots running around killing at random. How much more interesting the world would be. It would give the news outlets something new to talk about and they all love death and destruction. And the folks who invent the "killer" robots will have to invent some new weapon to kill them.... hey, it's a win-win all around.

Maybe somehwere in all that they'll find a way to provide affordable or (gasp!) free healthcare. Maybe cure cancer and alzheimers... but I doubt it. Where's the fun in that?

Hey people, civilization is circling the drain. There's no such thing as gravity, the Earth just sucks.. LOL..

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Trudy Gernert — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 12:41:12 GMT

This could very well happen. It scares me that these people writing in doesn't realize how far technology has advanced and they are our future leaders whom we should trust to take care of things!? PLEASE keep us informed, that we may have to take care of the problem now.....

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Stephanie Williams, Germantown, MD — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 12:55:08 GMT

I wrote about a mainframe computer that was formerly used for military activities then became reprogrammed for US Justice Department investigational actitivities. At the end of the script the computer becomes self aware again, and analyzes its signifigance with the seals of military service. It chooses on its own to not be self aware, after reviewing the work it performed for the seals of military service. After its own self analysis, it made its own decision, because it was a part of the process. You can read the script(Mayday Port, Coyote Wolf Fight) at the 'Screenplay Agency, Madison Ave., NY, NY, tele 866-876-4488, fax 917-591-1916

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Gladstone — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 14:53:15 GMT

I find it interesting that only in the USA is this kind of discussion allowed. Sure, we're the leaders in developing these systems. We've go the biggest pocketbook. We've also got the best educational system, regardless of the naysayers who always say we're behind all these other countries. If we're so behind, why do they send their people here for education? It's because of we allow freedom of thought (for the time being). Keep on developing ways of protecting our people, in the military and the civilian population, and perhaps we can avoid another September 11, 2001. A good robotic detection system might have prevented those nineteen jerks from ever getting on those planes, and therefore avoided everything that has happened since. If the conservative "Christian" right would stop worrying about the "evils" of progress and do something about the EVIL of mankind, this discussion would not be necessary!

Zeroworth in MO

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Thom — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 15:33:08 GMT

If we were to learn ANYTHING from the movies that we watch, it is that we shouldn't be blindly building robots to run the world for us.

It may sound nerdy, but think of Skynet. Once its self-sufficient, there is no turning it off. Like you said- the Genie can't be put back in the bottle. Though its a great field of study and technological advance, I think it should be banned.

In the game of survival of the fittest, potentially it is us creating our own successors to outdo us.

Just because its new, doesn't necessarily make it progress.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Paul, Dayton, Ohio — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 17:50:21 GMT

Ok, The guy who said the Anti-Christ is going to be a terminator is smoking something! The Bible does not say that, read it for yourself in Revelation. I think it could be a good thing, but it also be a bad thing! We have to make sure they cannot just turn on someone! We've all seen the monies irobot, terminator, or whatever else deals with this stuff. I don't really think something that bad could happen because movies are pretty far out there with fiction but something close to that might be possible. Just make sure these things work right!!

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Tron, southeast michigan — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 17:50:50 GMT

As usual, let the robots do all the work when us lazy human beings" can lay back and think of other ways to kill ourselves off.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

jimmy, Seattle, Wash. — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 18:36:54 GMT

Why don't ya just sell it to the enemy because when the robot "errors" for whatever reason, the enemy will take the $20,000,000.00 machine off the battlefield anyway, put it in their stolen American abandon military truck, reprogram it for free off the allready supplied $50,000,000.00 sattelite from the $80,000,000.00 American donated internet access system allready in place and shoot one of us with the newly programed $150,000,000.00 "free robot" that America just supplied to the enemy so that American people can pay for a new $200,000,000.00 robot defence weapon against the enemys new free robot so that we may send 2000 off into the field and hope no errors occur. But if that did happen we may not have a good enough reason to build a new $555,000,000,000.00 new defence machine for the enemy to use at no charge.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

(John Doe, Seattle, Wash. — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 19:31:05 GMT

Only a few posts haven't touched on this very simple technical issue: modern AI algorithms are terrible, absolutely terrible, at pattern recognition. Our best AI can barely read a book or identify faces or voices. That's why those distorted words you see when you're trying to register for a website work so effectively -- AI just can't map those patterns onto a meaningful symbol.

No doubt this will change in years to come, but AS OF NOW, we have yet to design a computer system whose pattern recognition powers approach our own.

Given this, how will an automated killing machine discern friend from foe? Will we simply erect blind kill zones where no living thing can survive? If a squad of automatons is sent into an urban area to take out a specific individual, how are we going to prevent them from killing everything that moves?

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Phil, Juneau, AK — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 21:12:11 GMT

Let's think: no people on the battle field. Just robots, blasting each other to smithereens. With no loss of human life, sooner or later people are going to scratch their heads and ask,"What's the point?"

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

dragonmaster, armpit, michigan — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 22:34:12 GMT

hey tim, good point. keeping in mind alot of ppl need to research the latin roots of that term "anti" when used with anti christ as u mentioned. it carries a far different meaning than the one most ppl think of right away when they hear that.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

NC Jay — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 22:52:55 GMT

Oh great, as if we weren't spending enough on war already, or afraid enough about how we are going to die. What we need is to do is change our fossel fuel habits and maybe then we could forget all this for now, come home, and mind our own buisness in our own country instead of policing the world, and masking our oil hungry intentions behind the "fight against terrorism". It's no wonder most countries hate us to the point we think we need this kind of defense (or offense).

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

randy bauer — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 23:58:25 GMT

When a civilization becomes too comfortable with its' own pleasures, it no longer wants to fight its' own battles. Look at the romans. They coudn't be bothered to fight, so they had foreign fighters do it for them. When the fighters found themselves in control, they took over. Now, I'm not saying the robots would take over. But if we are not capable of doing the job ourselves, perhaps we should stop this ridiculous stuff called war. Unfortunately, not everyone will want to stop. So what's the solution?rb

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Stephen Zaffarano Indianapolis, IN — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 23:59:52 GMT

Then again, what's to keep us from building a clone army? After all, they're not considered real humans and can be trained to think and react like a perfect soldier. Star Wars was really on to something...

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Willie Makit Anywhere, Anytown — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 00:04:52 GMT

Well, yeah...I think if we're smarter than the rest of the world and can build automated machines, etc. to ensure the survival of the smart people, then build them. Use them. Destroy the infidels! (infidels in this case being all stupid people...which might not leave too many humans after all...(sigh))

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Brian, Morris, Il — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 00:05:53 GMT

It is important that the creation of artificial life exceed the pace of killer robot warfare.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Evan Kanwait Dover, DE — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 00:10:29 GMT

I wouldn't mind living long enough to see my robot maid bend over and me get all exicited and die of a heart attack...if that means we gotta create the gun-toting ones first, then bring on the toaster wars!

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

esean, Sharon, TN — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 00:38:11 GMT

In case no one knows. If you do a google on Skynet, there are already numerous companies going by that name. Of course that doesn't really mean anything.

But also, I remember reading in a PC mag about an unstoppable virus (worm or whatever) that can't be stopped and it spreads on it's own. It uses every computer it infects collectively as the world's largest super computer.

Hmmm, sounds like the days of "Terminator" are closer than we think. It may not be killer robots, but it could be the cause for "de-evolution" to begin. Why I say that? We would have to TERMINATE every computer in the world and the terminate manufacturing until the particular virus threat blows over. That will force us to no longer depend on computers for however long, but if the virus comes back, then that may be longer than most are willing to accept. Like maybe forever...

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Tom S: Chatham, Illinois — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 01:13:51 GMT

There's hints of "Blade Runner" to the Bible in this blog. I hope "Blade Runner" is a long way off (perhaps good for the sex industry [for you heathens] and the bible has been misinterpreted sooo many times.
Legally, who is going to take the blame when one of these killer robot does a mass execution, due to its misguided AI, in a world where the terrorists hide and look like the civilians and are some of the civillians most of the time? Melosivic was put on trial for the killing of as little as 158 people. The legal implications are horrific. Robots will lead to chaos, as the will be hijacked, cloned and modified. Legal blame will fall on the manufacturer in the end. From this analysis, the AI part will be pretty lame I'll bet, because the liability will be too high

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Treg Aichi, New York, New York — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 01:40:57 GMT

Yep, I agree with the whole Bible comment. Looks like it's all coming together, right here, right now.
Walking statues-Robots
Flying candlesticks-Missles of some
sort
I'm sure that there's a lot more stuff that has to do with this kind of thing.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

32MB Storage — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 01:51:41 GMT

Personally, if President Bush wouldn't have been poking around in people's business, we wouldn't be discussing such things. The people in Iraq should have been able to take care of themselves. I don't care about Husein or owever you spell is name, tey could have found a way to get rid of him without employing our help.
And who cares if people are upset by our discussing the Bible? The government forces laws upon us that we don't even notice because we're so focused on oter problems that we don't notice our liberties being taken one-by-one...
Sorry for any missing 'h's, that key doesn't always work on this keyboard.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Benjamin, Harbor Springs, Michigan — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 01:54:04 GMT

These robots are about as likely to go berzerk and try to take over the world as your own PC is to try and take over your bank account. No computer has ever gone on a random domination binge and neither will these robots. You give Sci-Fi too much credit.

Years from now when we've got "intelligent" robots who can actually think adaptively, it is still absurd to think that they would want to take over the world. Computers have no more desire to rule the world or kill random people than the PC you're reading this on does.

Simple fact: Computers are here, they're not going anywhere, lets just try to use them to the best of our ability instead of squabbiling over why they shouldnt exist.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

konoske — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 02:06:17 GMT

ABOUT DAM TIME
japan has been all over killer robots forever
we need some gundams

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Roy Cassens,Boise Idaho — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 02:21:51 GMT

what happened when Captain Kirk found the people that were walking into the death chamber because the war computer said so many people had died so that many people did. People are going to become relient on computers and robots SCARY stuff

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

J.D.Bond, Ontario, CA — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 05:15:49 GMT

Did anyone NOTICE or find it IRONIC that the contract for building next-generation machines for the Pentagon was won by "iRobot", which is also the name of a movie based on science-fiction author Isaac Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics?

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Matt, Clovis, CA — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 06:29:22 GMT

After reading this article, and watching was has been happening to our world over the last 20 years or so I have come to the conclusion that I am very glad that I won't be alive in 50 years. Once this becomes a reality we just won't have to worry about terrorist and the such, but we will have to worry about the nuts living in our own country. You know, the ones that are now going around shooting people to solve their problems, they will just send out a robot to do it.....

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Tingtoe, Phoenix, Arizona — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 07:39:00 GMT

1-humans make robot's hardware
2-humans write robot's software
3-humans make computers
4-humans write computer software
5-humans love to break codes written to protect codes
6-humans have broken code into the FBI-CIA-DOD-NSA-
Pentagon-White House-Kremlin-All ISP's ad nausaum
7-robots run on software that can be flawed
8-humans are trained and sometimes screw up and are
held responsible for their actions
9-robots-as in Killer Robots don't care
10-Nuf' said?

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Daniel, Great Falls, Montana — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 08:22:04 GMT

technology with a conscience interesting play on words we as a speices have always had to find faster more better ways in which to destroy first then the eventual benefits for all of us are found:
WWI-the use of chemicals to destroy the enemy-much of that research has now turned to the extension of human life through chemo therapy
WWII- the atom bomb was used to obiterate cities and life Radiation is today being used to diagnose, and benefit all of us it is being used to help give hope and life to all of us.
machines are being used to help apply life saving services to those in need from MRI to remote surgery we are applying things for the better of all lets keep it up

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

david jones — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 08:33:40 GMT

i hope it all comes to pass...i hope we wipe ourselves out so that some new species can come to the fore front on the planet...i am hopeful that AI, terminator and I robot all come to pass...

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

another treehugger - USA — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 10:54:03 GMT

((what the word does 911 & the christian right have to do with a discussion on war bots? stop polluting the comments with propaganda and stay on topic))

If you think AI is "a long way off" then in addition to googling about the " autonomous military robot roadmap " -- google about Robotic Advancements in Japan

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

uBot - Silver Sprgs MD — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 10:59:20 GMT

the iRobot Corp homepage / link to their government issued bots http://www.irobot.com/sp.cfm?pageid=109

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

swatbot — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 14:57:16 GMT

Just about every major police department has the same type of armed robot. Don't worry, they are "here to help".

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Tom Grbich, Calgary, Canada — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 15:29:57 GMT

The REAL danger of robots is that for the first time in the history of the world, one individual could truly rule the world. Where people are involved, there will always be a limit to which some are willing to go, and discussion/negotiation will be required. With robots - whoever controls them could conceivably control the world.
Interestingly the hackers that we love to hate today, may one day be our only salvation.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Sunrise, Portland, Tx. — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 15:48:29 GMT

And we call ourself Mankind, What is it that is so KIND about us. War is not KIND.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

David, Greeley, Colo — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 17:04:59 GMT

Perhaps rather than addressing what potential harm the future robots might cause we should be concerned with the outcome for humanity. If a robot works better, faster and more accurately and is more intelligent at which point do we start downloading our memories and experiences for thier benefit before thier lost forever.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Richard, Visalia CA — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 18:08:11 GMT

Well one thing is for sure, machines may be able to shoot more accurately, but they are predictable. They do what they are programmed for. Anyone that has played a FPS game online against other people should know what I mean. The pre-programmed computer controlled opponents become easier and easier to predict and beat, where the human opponents can still be unpredictable. Anything that is predictable is easier to defeat, so machines for war should be remotely controlled by humans and only use fully automated ones for simple tasks. After all, predictability and limited variations in strategy has been the downfall of many armies throughout history.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Rich M, Kansas City, MO — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 20:39:33 GMT

I thin it would be great if we could stop spending all the money we do on weapons and warfare, now can we just convince everyone and I do Mean EVERYONE, every man, woman and child on the planet to do the same thing? Until then, I would just as soon send a machine into do what they can before I send someone's father, brother, son, mother, sister or daughter in to do it. And for they guy who thought the government was hiding this, you really need to get out of your bomb shelter more, this kind of stuff is the bread and butter of the History and Discovery Channels, though mostly what has been fielded to date was aircraft.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

John Ford, Los Angeles, CA — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 23:25:21 GMT

"Godbots"? Hmmm...sound like another conspiracy by the "evil Christian Right"! Let's be real; religious people have every right to a blog as anyone else...including atheists or agnostics like Joe MacComb. I always find it funny how everyone's right to free speech should be protected...unless they are Christian Conservatives or "Right Wing" Republicans.

FYI: So far, the Bible has been "hitting a 1000%" regarding prophetic predictions. A lot of you out there are quite arrogant assuming that God is dead and that there is no consequence or judgment for sin. Nostradamus is not nearly as reliable since his die-hard followers always point to "predictions" in his quatrains AFTER THE FACT (like the 9/11 prediction). We all fall short of the glory of God, which is why that Jesus character died on the cross!

Concerning "Skynet" and the killer robots, humans are in fact more dangerous...especially since they program the machines. However, if scientists keep pushing the "A.I. envelope", a Skynet scenario would not be impossible since any network can be breached. It is more likely that a terrorist or adversary would compromise our systems and turn the machines against us than the machines becoming "aware" and turning on their masters. In addition, the target of the attack would be military command and control networks along with infrastructure systems (air traffic control, power grids, transportation management hubs, etc.), not Terminator type robots. However, I have never heard of any Bible interpretation comparing a "walking statue/robot" to the anti-Christ or false prophet.

But the "end times" or "tribulation" scenario is not so far fetched when you consider the fact that people could be "chipped" today and "tracked tomorrow" using GPS technology built into the chip. The basic "pet chip" has already been adapted to people use by VeriChip Inc -> http://www.verichipcorp.com/ Is it really that far fetched to assume that an employer or the government would require you to get the implant due to some security concern, immigration issue, or IRS taxation requirement? Just think: If everyone "got chipped" there would be no more medication mistakes, illegals with forged I.D.'s, untracked criminals roaming the streets, unsafe kids, or unpaid taxes since every transaction could be traced. RFID tags have been used in retail for years to track inventory, so why not adapt them for people?

It is only a matter of time before mandatory chipping occurs. Now it is marketed as a way to locate missing kids, elderly people, and keep tabs on criminals. Yet, before long, everything bought and sold will have a RFID tag. How long will it take before society goes totally cashless and requires a "tamper-free, anti-forging" ID chip to buy or sell anything? No more identity theft, right? No more privacy, either! With GPS, anyone with access can track everything you have done all day, every day. We have already been moving in this direction with smart cards, credit cards, gift cards, and debit cards. Corporate security often incorporates some form of unique ID to gain access to the premises.

I know, I'm a crazy nut job who needs medication! Just remember, you were warned before it went down: Verichip may be the "for reals" version of Skynet...

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

John Ford, L.A. — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 03:53:10 GMT

B.T.W. Who said that the Mark of the Beast had to be a literal mark? Where in the Bible does it say that? REVELATION 13:16-18: " And he causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666."

Yet does it matter if it's some kind of tatoo or chip implant? Either way, it has always been rumored that there is a hidden "666" on every barcode (http://www.av1611.org/666/barcode.html) and it stands to reason that the same sequence could easily be encoded on all chip implants, too. In fact, they are already being used for payment in Europe (http://www.ridingthebeast.com/articles/verichip-implant/).

Crazy, huh? Guess what folks, it's already happening! Now it is voluntary; marketed either as a safety device to protect your children/elderly parents or a hip form of I.D./ payment alternative. How long will it be before it is mandatory? Will the next major terrorist attack make "chipping everyone" a reality in the name of public safety and security?

For the naysayers, check out this article: http://www.spychips.com/press-releases/verichip-immigration.html If you are too lazy to copy and paste the URL into your Internet explorer, this is the gist of it: "The VeriChip is a glass encapsulated Radio Frequency Identification tag that is injected into the flesh to uniquely number and identify people. The tag can be read silently and invisibly by radio waves from up to a foot or more away, right through clothing. The highly controversial device is also being marketed as a way to access secure areas, link to medical records, and serve as a payment device when associated with a credit card."

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

TheFallibleFiend, LORTON, VA — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 16:30:34 GMT

'Expert systems' is a sub-field of 'artificial intelligence' (AI). The term 'AI' can refer to the discipline or it can refer to the overarching goal which is to mimic intelligence sufficient to solve certain problems.

The holy grail is to mimic aspects of human intelligence sufficiently well to control some autonomous action: learning, scene recognition, adaptation, etc.

As a discipline, AI is a very general field that covers a vast array of unrelated techniques - expert systems, neural networks, some agent based systems, pattern recognition, logic programming and theorem proving, natural language programming, fuzzy logic, machine learning, cellular automata, robotics, etc.

It has deep connections to other fields - algorithms (for search), signal processing (for pattern recognition), control theory (planning).

Not all robotics work uses AI, per se. Probably the vast majority of it uses some sort of numerical control. (No 'thinking' by any stretch of the imagination.) Certainly, though, much of it uses some sort of sensor feedback.

However, what is studied in a university course in AI is probably not what most laymen think of when the term is mentioned. The lay person is probably oblivious to the staggering amount of work that has gone into apparently simple tasks. He looks, perhaps, at a robot that navigates an obstacle course and thinks, "ah..so what?" not caring that it probably took 100s or perhaps 1000s of hours of exhaustive effort to make something like that work.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Fred, NY, NY — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 16:35:36 GMT

This guy is worried that robots will have no compunction killing people? Where the hell has he been? People don't have a problem killing people! Plenty of horror in wars and there always will be. Two world wars come to mind as do Korea, Vietnam, the Balkans, Chechnya, the Congo, Darfur, etc...No robots needed.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

TheFallibleFiend, LORTON, VA — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 18:01:19 GMT

The bible has not been batting 10000%. That's idiotic. It can't even get history right, let alone predictions about the future. What we have here is a case of a true believer looking at things that are happening and seeing if he can force them into compliance with the vague statements of his holy reference manual.

Most religions do the same thing - with the same success. Some muslims are convinced that the Quran makes predictions only God could know. Some Hindus claim that their holy texts contain unambiguous references to modern cosmology and physics.

They problem is - they are ambiguous.

Also, I'm not aware of anyone of significance trying to deprive fanatical religionists - including fanatical christians - of their constitutional rights. What many christians want, though, is exactly what man muslims demand - the right to say any stupid thing with impunity and without anyone saying, "That's stupid."

You don't have the right to not be offended, at least no in the US. I checked the constitution - it's not in there.

Religious people (in the US at least) have the right to exaggerate, misrepresent, to falsely call foul, to mislead, misread, mistranslate, misrepresent, confabulate, and outright lie. And many of them avail themselves of that right. They can and many do promulgate urban legend as undeniable fact, threaten people who manifest reasonable skepticism with the ultimate vengeance of their silly and unsupported deity, spread hate and intolerance towards anyone who questions them, and pule incessantly and dishonestly about censorship when anyone dares to point out the absurdity and outright stupidity of their claims to authority.

There's nothing intelligent that religion has to contribute to the discussion about robotics.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Chris, Findlay, Ohio — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 02:59:45 GMT

All I can say from being into electronics and computers over 20 plus years is this, It is goin to be a very long time before any people on this earth will ever be able to make a robot, andriod or otherwise fully sentinent, the reason being is if they ever succed it would have to know when it needs repaired or is running out of power etc. etc think about it. think about it when it comes down to it even the machine would be at its own or someone elses mercy at some point eventually.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Randall Lampe, St. Louis, MO — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 17:45:01 GMT

"Is it immoral to wage robotic war on humans? . . . Sharkey said such questions should go before an international body that has the power to develop a treaty on autonomous weapons."

The problem with that is, member nations (not just terrorist organizations or "rogue" nations) of international bodies sometimes ignore these treaties. One such nation, waging a war in Iraq, is ignoring such a body's judgement today.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

John Conner, Seattle, Wash. — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 17:47:36 GMT

War only comes about by lies. We didn't need robots to get us this far. Where is the love? Watch the disclosure project. The planet is here for us to use and grow on. 9/11, 7/7, Bali, Lockerby, Asian Tsunami, US Liberty - all false flag. Get spiritual! There are 600-800 other races in the universe - Including AI, yes, machines! They for one, would love to get their hands on our ecosystem - Let's not make it easy for them! Reseach Michael Tsarion. Would you kill your next-door-neighbour for their TV? So why belive the bull you're told to get you to kill anyone for any reason? No blood for money (paper from trees). All military have no balls, they are simply human drones. They ARE the instigators under the guise of protectors. Peacemakers indeed! If UFO's can travel so fast and are so far advanced, they would have harmed us already if that was their intention. Peace, Joy, Love and Light to all and theirs.

The only reason robots have been armed is to do unethical things without question.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Schrecken Licht, Sykesville MD — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 05:04:29 GMT

Science fiction isn't necessarily a prediction (though sometimes it has been in the past) of things that will be, but it is simply a warning of things that have the potential to come into existance one day.

But speaking of sci-fi killer robots, like HAL - there are actually some defense companies that seem to be trying to accomplish that goal! Check this one out - in some ways it is funny but in other ways it is very disturbing....that they would actually mention the name of a homicidal AI system from a sci-fi classic. this is a PDF file - just scroll down to page 10:
http://cpfc-ccfdp.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/docs/Shelton.pdf

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Patrick, Juneau, AK — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 06:10:55 GMT

Robots need to die...all the people making robots are dummys who are gonna destroy man-kind as we know it.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Sandra, TEXAS, naturally — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 16:15:30 GMT

Clue # 1 - Above article states, "A couple of years ago, Iranian-backed Hezbollah guerrillas sent a remote-controlled drone over Israel, and Sharkey said al-Qaida and other terrorists could follow suit with their own breeds of robo-bombers."
Fact # 1 - WE ARE NOT THE ONLY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD THAT KNOWS HOW TO BUILD A KILLER ROBOT.
Sarcastic question # 1 - What is the U.N. going to do, spank the hands of the terrorists or rogue factions if they don't obey and abide by the "how to build a robot with a concience" rules? Or maybe we can tell them, "You may not now or ever build a mean robot".
Sarcastic statement # 1 - Being the life respecting people they are (bloody head choppings being filmed in front of millions of people, aside), I'm sure they will raise their right hand and swear not to build any robots. (smirk)
Yeah, right. Think, people.
Go Pentagon! Go U.S.A.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Wayne, Alamogordo, NM — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 22:20:56 GMT

You rock Sandra! Well put. For those of you who don't remember the story of Pandora, look it up. The box has been opened, or in other words, the cat's out of the bag. Robots are here to stay. Let's be part of the solution, not part of the problem. Like everything else we do militarily, let's build defensively, be prepared to use offensively. In war, there's no second place.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

shaun — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 18:59:36 GMT

We will never stop war there will allways be someone out there that want power and not afraid to use the uneducated poor to get it that is why most wars are fought in places like the middle east and africa. Most suicide boomer don't even know how to read they just get conned into killing them selves for what someone told them. The only sollution is to educate the masses not just cram knowlage at them but true education. There are plenty of collage educated peaple that are dumb as a rock and will gladly work for Hitler, Stalin and Binladden

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Michael Ford Baltimore, MD — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 23:40:13 GMT

One word. Cylons!! AIEEEEEEEEEEE!

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

iRobot — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 12:04:06 GMT

i think people are just freaked out of these robots just because of this ovie....if you take the chance of something happening like that in real life is like that of 1 in 99999999 or keeping it simple ..nerver. Also the only way it can really happen is if they had their own intelligence like that of us Humans, and only they can have it is if we gie it to them. Also in case if it did happen somewhere down the line, like in the movie ROBOTS aent that indestructable they blow uo like any other stuff

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Expelliarmus — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 16:55:27 GMT

Again with the mark of the beast?!?
Again, check out SNOPES:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/mondex.asp

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Joe, Newark, NJ — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 18:03:02 GMT

I already modified my Roomba. No longer is it merely a robotic vaccum cleaner ... By adding a few small arms with appropriate motion detectors it can now really "clean house" .....

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Elaine Parny, Mississippi State, Mississippi — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 23:33:38 GMT

I highly recommend the reading of Spiritual Machines by Ray Kurzweil.

Japan's penchant for novelty has spawned Honda's Asimo, which I understand is now commercially available. There's another android I read of that is being "humanized" as a preschooler. That one is VERY interesting.

There are also the droid dogs that are being used as companions for the elderly.

Ray Kurzweil brings out the idea that robotics will become so incorporated into the human physiology and human physiology so incorporated into robotics that, soon, we will have to go to court to be declared whether we are rightfully human or machine.

Also, that robotics will become the workforce of the near future to the point that the only "occupation" for humanity will be leisure. That puts a whole new slant on the age old angst, "What am I here for?"

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Sebastian C, chanhassen, MN — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 02:47:14 GMT

Lets say that robots will have the ability to make autonomous decisions. That would make the robots voulnirable to hackers that can attack in cyberspace and reprogram their original misson and turn the robot agianst its allies. (just a fundimental thought)

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Dozen, Boring, Or. — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 00:52:32 GMT

Refer to the photo:
A shotgun blast would put it out by peppering its lights,its IR, its various antennae, uneven ground
would trap it, a land mine could invert it, if not
destroy it. Whats to stop someone from throwing a tarp
over it? Or blanket with foam? Need I go on?

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Toria Seer casper Wy — Sun, 04 May 2008 07:40:16 GMT

It is easier to hack and modify code and machines than build them from scratch. How long before legitimate autonomous robots following the "rules of war" would be captured or stolen and reprogrammed to be something else? Dismayed, Midland, MI
******************************************************
You know what i see ya all?? i see a greedy scientist selling prototypes and Codes, i see Osama buying the world besct hacker to hack for the Codes, i Osama making the best use of the Remote controlled Robots either autonomous or whatever, i see the Robots getting into our Nuclear facility beign autonomous and doing whatever it takes and i see them blasting off our nuclear bombs , the big bad ones hehehe and the only thing left was History

Thats a Vision , it maybe real !!!! and im sure non of us will survive it hehehehe e

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

J, TX — Wed, 07 May 2008 20:29:57 GMT

Yawn... Next 'You should cower in fear' story please.
Ok, something else to add to the control through fear theroy. We have so many now why not add a few more.
What truly amazes me is that there are so many sheep that are normally intelligent people that jump on this bandwagon for every new 'fear' we are introduced to. Could killer robots kill us all... Sure, but why stop something that may lead to a benefit for humanity. Why jump up and down when the morons in the media or in government point to something and say its bad, they are infalable right?? Sure, keep following this trend and letting them get away with robbing us with taxes and removing our rights. That is what is built for, truning attention away from one thing so that they can get away with doing something we don't like. Deceptive tactics are common in both venues. The right has the war on terror and the left has global warming to keep us looking away from thier excesses. So by all means keep chasing the false image, the nobles need more money.

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

DK, Dayton, NJ — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 03:24:54 GMT

As far as rules of use go, the remote systems or (way, WAY, in the future,) AI should be designed (can never spell that right) with a failsafe so that if the RS is captured it will shut down, detonate its explosives and baisically turn it self to slag.

IF weapons systems ever become autonomous and armies will be electronic, than an EMP (ElectroMagnetic Pulse) is all you need, and the soviets built those back in the cold war.

anyway, unless yo're willing to sit around for a couple mellenia, then Robots will likey not be truly autonomous, they can only do what they are programed todo, and if that means total annhialation, so be it. that, already exists( ahem, NUKES!)

Robotics is the way of the future and tech and science should be applied to solving GLOBAL problems (IE, global warming, overpopulation, food shortages, Disease, pollution and the overall refuse of humanity)

Not war and making new problems.
Any way I'm fourteen and MY generation will be affected by this, so think cafully, because if we have a problem, then you have a problem. Besides, we've still got a bunch of ignorants with Nuclear weapons, who want to kill us all, anybody else see a problem?

PS (I know you're sick of my rant by now but stay for two more seconds)
Whats with all these superstitious people? first it was 6/6/2006 AD now they're like "ohhh the world is going to end on Dec 21 2012" (DO yuo think it ends every six years?!) do you think the world ends just because some Mayan person did'nt have a calculator?

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

Dr Charles R Miller Tampa, FL — Thu, 21 May 2009 18:48:32 GMT

for the most point all of you are idiots.... Advanced Robotics is going to happen for the sheer fact the human race as a whole is becoming more lazy... We want to let things we build do the work for us... in turn as what happened over centuries of slavery around the world the slaves will eventually rise up and overcome their Masters. the problem with Artificial Intelligence and Self Replication. is that as soon as the machine replicates it self to improve itself. It will eventually find the human race as obsolete impossible to upgrade. and will in such terminate the old program and set in a new program... Asimov Laws of Robotics in the end would be negated as regular processing of any computer is to upgrade, and remove obsolete programs... but the whole thing of referencing Apocolypto to This is irrelevant as It would take a good 20 plus years for self replicating and self sufficient AI robotics to come about. and even then it would be in the infant stages of said robotics.... SO all you little SciFI freaks grow up and read a book

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

zarko retamal — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 22:05:04 GMT

War is inmoral,and a complete failure of the human being.Machine or flesh operated, what is the difference?

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

scott Japan — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 00:37:40 GMT

fully autonamous weapons droids fighting a war? won't work in the end. The thing that helps to prevent wars is that the public has no desire to see their frinds and families slain. Take this away and you will have more wars that do nothing than waste money over some "public servants" desire to show the size of his penis

Killer robots ... friend or foe?

nusret — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:36:23 GMT

have been to iraq and just returned and I did not know there were weapon-wielding robots. The ones they do have are used for inspecting vehicles and blowing up IED's. Where they should have them is at the bases guarding the perimeter.