Not long ago, there was a high-ranking Air Force Colonel who when
asked by reporters about unmanned aerial vehicles, he said the science
fiction notion of "Terminator type robots" fighting wars autonomously
and going after humans on their own accord without being telerobotically
tethered was nonsense, and pure fantasy. Well, seeing as I run a think
tank, and know little bit about autonomous robotics, I have a hard time
swallowing his statement, and therefore, I believe that he is a little
naïve and doesn't know the technology, or he's hiding something -
perhaps some of each or a combination of all three?
Perhaps, the Air Force does not wish to alarm anyone, or have them believe that unmanned aerial systems are going out and indiscriminately kill humans in the battlespace, or against terrorists without a human in the loop. Today, he's right, we aren't doing that, but it's not because we can't, it is because we haven't worked out all the bugs yet, but to say that we don't have the technology is nonsense. After all we have self driving cars that can go out and drive around for hours without hitting anything. Further, there are a lot fewer obstacles once you're in the air. Think about that concept for second.
Anyone who thinks that fully robotic and autonomous unmanned aerial combat vehicles are not coming to the battlespace soon is kidding themselves. Soon, fully autonomous attack robots in air, in the water, and on the land, who knows maybe autonomous tunneling bots too - will seek and destroy targets at will without being tethered electronically to human command and control.
Just look at some of the newest technology - for instance there was an interesting piece in MIT Technology Review recently and also a story on SpaceWar Online News titled; " Drones may be controlled by gestures," by Staff Writers, Cambridge, Mass. (UPI) Mar 15, 2012, which stated;
"Drone aircraft taxiing on a runway may someday be controlled by ground personnel using just standard gestures, U.S. researchers say. Drones can already land autonomously on runway or aircraft carrier flight decks, but humans control them during taxiing."
If the robot can sense and read gestures, eventually they will be able to sense if someone is pointing a weapon at them. If an individual attempts to attack the robot with a gun or weapon, the robot will be able to fire upon them. If someone fires a weapon, multiple swarming robots can triangulate the position, and immediately return fire, perhaps in the future with lasers, and eliminate said individual.
We have all the technology, all the math, and all the scenarios already figured out. In this case it would be just a matter of miniaturizing laser weapons. But all of this exists, right now today, so anyone that thinks it's science fiction fantasy at this point is living in the dark ages, doesn't know what they're talking about, or is hiding the facts from reality. Indeed I hope you will please consider all this and think on.
Perhaps, the Air Force does not wish to alarm anyone, or have them believe that unmanned aerial systems are going out and indiscriminately kill humans in the battlespace, or against terrorists without a human in the loop. Today, he's right, we aren't doing that, but it's not because we can't, it is because we haven't worked out all the bugs yet, but to say that we don't have the technology is nonsense. After all we have self driving cars that can go out and drive around for hours without hitting anything. Further, there are a lot fewer obstacles once you're in the air. Think about that concept for second.
Anyone who thinks that fully robotic and autonomous unmanned aerial combat vehicles are not coming to the battlespace soon is kidding themselves. Soon, fully autonomous attack robots in air, in the water, and on the land, who knows maybe autonomous tunneling bots too - will seek and destroy targets at will without being tethered electronically to human command and control.
Just look at some of the newest technology - for instance there was an interesting piece in MIT Technology Review recently and also a story on SpaceWar Online News titled; " Drones may be controlled by gestures," by Staff Writers, Cambridge, Mass. (UPI) Mar 15, 2012, which stated;
"Drone aircraft taxiing on a runway may someday be controlled by ground personnel using just standard gestures, U.S. researchers say. Drones can already land autonomously on runway or aircraft carrier flight decks, but humans control them during taxiing."
If the robot can sense and read gestures, eventually they will be able to sense if someone is pointing a weapon at them. If an individual attempts to attack the robot with a gun or weapon, the robot will be able to fire upon them. If someone fires a weapon, multiple swarming robots can triangulate the position, and immediately return fire, perhaps in the future with lasers, and eliminate said individual.
We have all the technology, all the math, and all the scenarios already figured out. In this case it would be just a matter of miniaturizing laser weapons. But all of this exists, right now today, so anyone that thinks it's science fiction fantasy at this point is living in the dark ages, doesn't know what they're talking about, or is hiding the facts from reality. Indeed I hope you will please consider all this and think on.
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