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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) |
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