Do robots seem like a good idea in war?

1. 59

   nightwork4posted 13 years ago

   Do robots seem like a good idea in war?
   
   the creation of self-learning robots as soldiers in definetly in the works, is this a good thing or will it backfire?

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2. 60

   John B Baddposted 13 years ago

   Einstein once said "our technology has finally surpassed our humanity" (or something like that). 
   I think he was right.  I do not think self learning combat robots will be a good thing.  Watch Terminator and The Matrix if you want to know why.  I also do not want my country to defeated by another countries AI robots so I want us to develop them before other countries do.
   A way around Terminator and Matrix would be to not give our robots AI but instead to allow humans to control them from a remote location.  I think this is our best bet.

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3. 60

   Stigma31posted 13 years ago

   Aren't they already?...Any mechanized device run by a computer is a robot. Good idea, of course they are. Will they prevent human casualties? Not a chance. If a large scale war started with robots, humans would be fighting along side of them on both sides. The casualty rate would probably be much higher due to the accuracy of the new soldiers. On a small scale, think what a group of Robot Mercenaries could do? Now, that is a much scarier thought.

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4. 70

   aguasilverposted 13 years ago

   If robots are a viable alternative to millions of 19 year old boys being killed or horrifically injured, yes, send them in and let them do the job, unfortunately they will only be fighting those nations who are too poor to have robot armies, but have lots of young men, which will be a shame, as our robots will be killing their 19 year old boys.... maybe a better idea would be to put both sides politicians into a sealed enclosure and let those who come out alive be declared the winners, then terminated.
   
   We will always be able to get more politicians, 19 years old boys are more special.
   
   I suspect there would be few wars if we did this.

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5. 59

   poorconservative1posted 13 years ago

   I have to agree with Stigma31 on this one. Humans are just too aggressive to allow someone else or even something else to wage war for them. And lets face it, not being human, the robots would never get it right.

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6. 64

   ThunderKeysposted 13 years ago

   I think directed energy technology will render solider robots redundant - it's all about the selective-bioeffects........

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7. 89

   Doc Snowposted 13 years ago

   As previous comments make clear, "good idea" is very general--it may be a good idea from the point of view of cost effectiveness or reducing military casualties, but a bad idea other points of view--misdirected fire, perhaps, muddy lines of responsibility for lethal actions, international equality (and hence, maybe stability?  Might 'non-robotized' nations, feeling unable to compete upon the battlefield, opt for other forms of conflict, like terrorism, or the development of weapons of mass destruction?)
   
   That said, I think that AI is really, really, hard, and though there have been some remarkable breakthroughs--the cyber-Jeopardy champion is an amazing example of AI coping pretty well with natural language, which has been a really tough challenge--it's likely that robotic soldiers will be remotely operated for quite some time to com.
   
   There the change has come very quickly; the US is said to deploy something like 7,000 UAVs (remotely piloted planes) these days.  And they are being rapidly up-armed, becoming more and more deadly fast.  If Qaddafi had had those this week, things might have been different; some of his fighter pilots, ordered to bomb Libyan oil fields controlled by the opposition, defected to Malta instead.
   
   Had they been jockeying UAVs, he'd have shot them as soon as their disobedience became clear.

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8. 61

   Ken Bartonposted 13 years ago

   Robot's in war are already being used and to a degree offer many good advantages.  However, the only good thing about a war is its End.  If using robot's helps bring a war to an end faster I'd say it's a good thing.  "The Day the Earth Stood Still", was a film about a Robot race that had been developed to put a stop to man's insanity.  Unfortunately, in this world, it's the insane who control the robots; so, there is plenty of room to question their use one way or the other.

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9. 0

   Old Empresarioposted 13 years ago

   It might be a good idea simply because using robots to fight  wars would certainly fit into a nation's sanctimonious (not to mention corpulant) nature.

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10. 76

    montecristoposted 13 years ago

    Yes, because they are a lifesaver! There is no price on a human life. True, it may be expensive, but again, life is priceless.

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11. 60

    preddycposted 13 years ago

    Artificial intelligence in a combat setting is dangerous. The terminator movies are an example of the worst that could happen. Plus, i feel robots are to statistics and probability oriented. They would not wait to help a wounded soldier or an innocent civilian if they had not completed their primary objective of winning the battle.. We would lose the last remaining bit of humanity in war.

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12. 60

    Onyx Fox35posted 13 years ago

    I don't like war but I'd rather have robots do the job.
    
    besides they can go where humans can't go.....
    
    close to the enemy!!!

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13. 57

    Anis Bulbulposted 13 years ago

    robot is heartless in war.So it should not use in war.

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14. 76

    shoganposted 13 years ago

    I don't know, but how'd you like to be the one guy who has to carry around all the batteries?

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