The Terminator scenario: Perhaps not so fictional after all

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Terminator Scenario unlikely but misuse is a definite.

I don't buy into the Terminator scenario very much. The idea of robots
rising up in a coordinated effort is incredibly unrealistic at this point.
Though I will admit its possible it is unlikely.

What I don't doubt however is that these robots will be misused.
There are unpopular wars going on now and a lot of that unpopularity
comes from the death of soldiers and for good reason. What happens
when the government can guarantee that there will be no human
loses? More war.

You say that robots can be more humane because they do not suffer
from stress and fear. While a good thing it is also dangerous from the perspective that they do not care. They will kill, when ordered, no
questions asked. If anyone seriously thinks that the military will
acquire robots with a programmed conscience that might disobey if
given unlawful orders then you are fooling yourself. They will do
whatever is commanded of them.

You say that since robots are uncaring observers that they will be
calling back to base what is truly going on, without human bias. That
is a good thing for sure but do you really think that the command
center is then going to release unedited tapes about any incidents? Or
for that matter even say that it happened.
Having human beings involved is a good thing because they have
guilt. If something horrible does happen it eventually comes out. If all
you have are centrally controlled data files then good luck ever
getting the truth.

Hacking/Viruses/Bugs - These robots will be built with software and
human error or intentional cracking will occur. I find this aspect of
robots the most frightening. There will have to be a way for the
robots to call home and this point of entry will be exploited.

This technology will not stay in the US. If you think that the US is
going to rest on its robot laurels then you are in a fantasy land. The
last thing we need is a cold robot war.
I don't know about you but any unmanned weapons platform should
be opposed. I don't care if its controlled by a human or not but having
these weapons platforms in any form opens up a very steep slippery
slope. They should be universally banned.

Posted by: ChrisOPeterson   Posted on: 02/20/09 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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