Sunday, January 26, 2014
The Era of Robots - A Response to "March of Robots"
As technology has shifted and advanced, it's uses have changed drastically. Robots are now widely used in armies as a means of replacing soldiers on foreign soil to exploring unknown territory. They can weigh a few grams, to a couple tons, depending on the purpose of the UAV or UGV (unmanned aerial vehicle and unmanned ground vehicle.) However, the most interesting features of these robots are the integration of biomimicry into their design. These robots have the ability to run, jump, hop, swim, fly or crawl; exploring land, sea and air. Some climb over terrain such as steep rocky areas, whereas others swim through the ocean, or fly through the air. As these 'creatures' are able to explore the earth and it's surroundings without direct human interaction or control, it brings up the concern of the actions that they perform. Some people believe that without a human directly controlling the robot while in the physical territory, it may increase the number of attacks. This is belief that armies with "robots may be more inclined to launch attacks" strengthens the notion of "in the loop" vs. "on the loop." While if one is "in the loop" that human or soldier is directly in the area of action and decides whether or not to take action based on their experience. On the other hand, if one is "on the loop" than they are watching what the robot sees, but not experiencing it first hand. This distinction is important due to the atmosphere of which these decisions are being made. Although with this, soldiers are not being placed on foreign soil which makes situations and politics more tricky. Either way, a human should always be the one to decide to attack or not, never should this decision be made by a robot. If robots are the ones being placed in such territory, would war one day end up being robots fighting each other, controlled by a human thousands of miles away? This question truly makes me wonder how technology will continue to change societies and cultures through advancements; especially in the realms of war.
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Nice post! The addition of military robots to our military is a controversial idea. I mean just look at the bad reputation of UAV drones being used by the US military. Although these drones don’t put US military members in direct danger, mistakes by the operator are often paid for with civilian lives. Bringing us to the important distinction of in the loop, on the loop distinction you made in you post. By allowing individuals to control UAVs from thousands of miles away are we making killing human beings too much like a video game? Say call of duty. Robert E. Lee once said, “It is well that war is so terrible otherwise we should grow too fond of it.” By distancing ourselves from the battle are we making war less terrible? Would nations be more willing to wage war if the cost in human life was minimal? All of these questions raise alarming questions but as far as the answers go only time will tell what restrictions if any humanity puts on the use of military robots in the military.
ReplyDeleteIt's an interesting point that you make about "making war less terrible." I never really thought about it in that way, but it makes sense. By distancing ourselves from the site, it truly does also distance ourselves mentally, as well as physically. But in terms of creating war if humans are less involved, then won't we just be killing costly machines? What will that do or prove. It's an interesting era that we're entering, and true, only time will tell how this all evolves.
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