Latest By
Category:
Armor
Artificial
Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Food
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual
Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work
 |
Comments on Armed Robots Bad Idea
Many, but not all, sf writers agree that armed robots are a bad idea. Can you think of exceptions? (Read
the complete story)
| "Teleoperated armed bots are fine. It's when you start making them autonomous that the poop always hits the fan." ( 3/26/2010 9:04:55 AM) |
| "I think by the time we give armed robots full autonomy, there will be enough safety features that they won't go any killing sprees. It's the ones without guns we gotta watch. (Manna, anyone? http://marshallbrain.com/manna1.htm)" (Zero 3/29/2010 4:14:05 PM) |
| "See also my entry for manna by Marshall Brain from his story Manna." (Bill Christensen 3/29/2010 5:36:31 PM) |
| "I see armed robots as a potentially dangerous paradigm shift in terms of their speed and accuracy. Without enhancement there's no way a human soldier can compete. Just the video of high-speed robotic arms catching and throwing balls, spinning sticks in university labs already shows this. All sci-fi depictions of armed robots run amok have them slow and plodding, but they will be FAST. It'll be like trying to outrun a cluster bombing.
OTOH, the one upside (if you can call it that) is that in a war, the robots will be true to their programming, they won't kill, torture, maim, or rape based on bias, religion, race, or ethnicity. You'll either meet the target criteria or not. " (AJ Dual 3/30/2010 7:16:48 PM) |
| "AJ, I agree with you about fast robots; take a look at my previous article Robot Hands Ready To Kick Your Ass to see some good video proof of what you're saying. Also I've often wondered if the satyagraha or nonviolent approach perfected by Gandhi would work without human beings to use it against. For human exoskeleton enhancement, see these two comparative videos on Sarcos XOS exoskeleton and the HAL exoskeleton." (Bill Christensen 4/1/2010 4:25:49 PM) |
| "I should also have included these links, since they point to armed robots that have an autonomous capability (although none have been let "off the leash" as yet).
- Robotic Sentry Gun From USMechatronics |
| "Timothy Zahn had an AI flying/controlling a ship (with weapons) in the Conquerors trilogy. The AI was fast, intelligent, and most importantly, Loyal. David Weber had Dahak in the series of the same name, which was both a spaceship/warship the size of the moon (which it was disguised as, at the beginning of the story) and the AI that ran it. Weber also, however, showed the opposite side of the coin, as the (real) main enemies in the first two stories were actually an entire race under the control of a similar (tho evil, instead of loyal) AI.
Back to Zahn again, and you have the Cobras, basically cyborg warriors (kinda like Halo Spartans without the external armor, but with internal weapons/armor/etc) who had a (non-sentient) battle-computer inside them which could, under specific circumstances, take control of their equipment and bodies and run them like robots without their control. (which had it's own benefits and drawbacks, they got the faster reaction times of being "robots", but also if the enemy knew enough about their programming they could set up traps that made use of that programming to make the Cobras helpless)" (Ashley 4/3/2010 9:21:45 AM) |
Get more information on Armed Robots Bad Idea
Leave a comment:
Please send your comments to @technovelgy and I'll post them. Thanks!
More Articles
The Zapata Air Scooter Would Be Great In A Science Fiction Story
'Betty's slapdash style.'
Thermostabilized Wet Meat Product (NASA Prototype)
There are no orbiting Michelin stars. Yet.
Could Crystal Batteries Generate Power For Centuries?
'Power could be compressed thus into an inch-square cube of what looked like blue-white ice'
India Ponders Always-On Smartphone Location Tracking
'It is necessary... for your own protection.'
Amazon Will Send You Heinlein's Knockdown Cabin
'It's so light that you can set it up in five minutes by yourself...'
Is It Time To Forbid Human Driving?
'Heavy penalties... were to be applied to any one found driving manually-controlled machines.'
Replace The Smartphone With A Connected Edge Node For AI Inference
'Buy a Little Dingbat... electropen, wrist watch, pocketphone, pocket radio, billfold ... all in one.'
Artificial Skin For Robots Is Coming Right Along
'... an elastic, tinted material that had all the feel and appearance of human flesh and epidermis.'
Robot Guard Dog On Duty
I might also be thinking of K-9 from Doctor Who.
Wearable Artificial Fabric Muscles
'It is remarkable that the long leverages of their machines are in most cases actuated by a sort of sham musculature...'
BrainBridge Concept Transplant Of Human Head Proposed
'Briquet’s head seemed to think that to find and attach a new body to her head was as easy as to fit and sew a new dress.'
Google's Nano Banana Pro Presents Handwritten Math Solutions
'...copy was turned out in a charming and entirely feminine handwriting.'
Edible Meat-Like Fungus Like Barbara Hambly's Slunch?
'It was almost unheard of for slunch to spread that fast...'
Sunday Robotics 'Memo' Bot Has Unique Training Glove
'He then started hand movements of definite pattern...'
Woman Marries Computer, Vonnegut's Dream Comes True
'Men are made of protoplasm... Lasts forever.'
Natural Gait With Prosthetic Connected To Nervous System
'The leg was to function, in a way, as a servo-mechanism operated by Larry’s brain...'
Spidery 'Walk Me' Toyota Autonomous Wheel Chair Like Star Wars
Walk along with the emperor.
Proof Of Robothood - Not A Person
'Who are you people? - Show 'em.'
Dancing Robots Taught Dance Moves
'A clockwork figure would be the thing for you...'
Indonesian Clans Battle
'The observation vehicle was of that peculiar variety used in conveying a large number of people across rough terrain.'
