Packs of robots will hunt down uncooperative humans

The latest request from the Pentagon
jars the senses. At least, it did mine. They are looking for
contractors to provide a "Multi-Robot Pursuit System" that will let
packs of robots "search for and detect a non-cooperative human".

Packs of robots will hunt down uncooperative humans 25tkuoy

Packs of robots will hunt down uncooperative humans 25tkuoy

One thing that really bugs defence chiefs is having their troops
diverted from other duties to control robots. So having a pack of them
controlled by one person makes logistical sense.
But I'm concerned about where this technology will end up.

Given that iRobot
last year struck a deal with Taser International to mount stun weapons
on its military robots, how long before we see packs of droids hunting
down pesky demonstrators with paralysing weapons? Or could the packs
even be lethally armed? I asked two experts on automated weapons what
they thought - click the continue reading link to read what they said.

Both were concerned that packs of robots would be entrusted with tasks
- and weapons - they were not up to handling without making wrong
decisions.

Steve Wright
of Leeds Metropolitan University is an expert on police and military
technologies, and last year correctly predicted this pack-hunting mode
of operation would happen. "The giveaway here is the phrase 'a
non-cooperative human subject'," he told me:

"What we have here are the beginnings of something designed to enable
robots to hunt down humans like a pack of dogs. Once the software is
perfected we can reasonably anticipate that they will become autonomous
and become armed.

We can also expect such systems to be equipped
with human detection and tracking devices including sensors which
detect human breath and the radio waves associated with a human heart
beat. These are technologies already developed."

Another commentator often in the news for his views on military robot autonomy is Noel Sharkey,
an AI and robotics engineer at the University of Sheffield. He says he
can understand why the military want such technology, but also worries
it will be used irresponsibly.

"This is a clear step towards one of the main goals of the US Army's Future Combat Systems
project, which aims to make a single soldier the nexus for a large
scale robot attack. Independently, ground and aerial robots have been
tested together and once the bits are joined, there will be a robot
force under command of a single soldier with potentially dire
consequences for innocents around the corner."

What do you make of this? Are we letting our militaries run
technologically amok with our tax dollars? Or can robot soldiers be
programmed to be even more ethical than human ones, as some researchers claim?

LNK

One day that sort of thing is going to be turned against governments!

Packs of robots will hunt down uncooperative humans

Packs of robots will hunt down uncooperative humans

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