Sarah Kanning

The Wilson Quarterly just published an essay about the increasing use of robots in warfare (“Robots at War,” Winter 2009), particularly in the U.S. military response to IEDs and other guerrilla tactics in Iraq. The author compares robotics with some other technical innovations (use of aircraft and submarines in war) and points out that they were preceded by the imaginings of science fiction writers like H. G. Wells. The essay also touches on a few of the potential ethical/moral ramifications of this new addition to the arsenal, and implications for the future, including one where humans may take a back seat to robots not only on the battlefield but in decision-making and responding to threats. Singer quotes an Army colonel:

“The trend towards the future will be robots reacting to robot attack, especially when operating at technologic speed. . . . As the loop gets shorter and shorter, there won’t be any time in it for humans.”

I must be waxing historic today, because my first thought while reading this was of the original Olympics in Greece, competitions that were on some level stylized and (largely) bloodless warfare. We have the video gaming systems now; can’t we just skip the gory middle step where we kill and maim enough people to grow appalled at ourselves, and jump right to the International Robot Games? There must be a way… I have to think about this some more (taps head like Pooh Bear)…