So now we’re no longer only producing killer robots, we also spread the delusion that they can be “ethical”. Ronald Arkin, a computer science professor, is developing decision-making machinery to be included in the controlling modules of flying drones, “smart” missiles, and other killer machines. We don’t have enough people on the planet willing to go for each other’s throats for the most stupid reasons you’ve heard in your life, no; we also need robots that act autonomously and decide whether to kill on their own. Great. I’m starting to think that the first Terminators will look either like the current Predator and its family of murderers, or like over-sized Wall-es with machine guns, small missiles, mines, and possibly a couple of flame-throwers on board. The future awaits.
UPDATE 22.09.2009: Obviously, data on deadly robots had already been available when I was writing the above. Slashdot posted another story about killer robots deployed in battlefields. Numbers: 250 dead in Pakistan, 9 in South Africa; software glitches are blamed at least in the second case.
