> Yes, robots that kill automatically with no human intervention. Programmed to seek and kill the enemy.
You know what those robots can't do? They can't rape the enemy. They can't kill their superior officers, traffic in or get addicted to drugs, and ideally, they won't be killing anyone but their target. They can't be made prisoners of war and tortured, and they can't really be hostages, either captured or because of proximity to the combat theater. If the robot is destroyed, you don't need to tell someone's mother their son isn't coming home. It may even stop wars because the other side is only destroying materiel that can be replaced instead of lives. A deterrent.
I know the negative arguments against them very well, and I also agree with them; you can't do this because it can and will spread and it makes killing much "cheaper" for the same reasons. But why is it so hard to imagine why people would write that code? It's really the same reaasons why people here love self-driving cars; to remove human error that causes waste and death.
> They can't be made prisoners of war and tortured, and they can't really be hostages, either captured or because of proximity to the combat theater.
That sounds like a feature, but it has a very important downside.
One of the biggest reasons that politicians hesitate to send in the troops is for the very reason you mention. Killing from afar with no accountability or political downside is a recipe for permanent warfare. In fact, there is a significant upside to them from the defense contractors.
You could argue (and many have) that we have already seen the start of this with the US drone program.
You know what those robots can't do? They can't rape the enemy. They can't kill their superior officers, traffic in or get addicted to drugs, and ideally, they won't be killing anyone but their target. They can't be made prisoners of war and tortured, and they can't really be hostages, either captured or because of proximity to the combat theater. If the robot is destroyed, you don't need to tell someone's mother their son isn't coming home. It may even stop wars because the other side is only destroying materiel that can be replaced instead of lives. A deterrent.
I know the negative arguments against them very well, and I also agree with them; you can't do this because it can and will spread and it makes killing much "cheaper" for the same reasons. But why is it so hard to imagine why people would write that code? It's really the same reaasons why people here love self-driving cars; to remove human error that causes waste and death.