Robots with AI to integrate into combat units

[_lost_username_]

With all the political theater dominating the news cycle, it’s easy for things to get buried. Often among those items that get overlooked in the shuffle are those that do with science and technology that will have a bigger impact on the future than today’s politics. One of those stories has to do with robots and their changing place in the world.

 

Robots have been part of the military for sometime. Believe it or not, the use of unmanned vehicles goes back to WWII when the Germans used the remote-controlled Goliath tracked mine to carry explosives to enemy targets.

 

We’ve come a long way since then. While we may still use remote-controlled drones, fully automated robots are on the horizon. For some people that’s scary, largely because they saw Terminator as kids, and for others it’s going to lead to fewer American deaths on the battlefield.

Which brings us to some news from two weeks ago.

 

Six3 Advanced Systems Inc., Dulles, Virginia, was awarded a $10,539,652 federal contract by the U.S. Army Contracting Command for the design, development and validation of system prototypes for a combined-arms squad, which combines humans and unmanned assets, ubiquitous communications and information and advanced capabilities in all domains to maximize squad performance in increasingly complex operational environments. The place of performance will be in Blacksburg, Dulles, Falls Church and Herndon, Virginia; and Monrovia, California.

 

This is something pretty big. In a few years, if this work is successful, humans will be working with robots that have artificial intelligence on the battlefield.

While some people are going to be worried that we’re taking things too far, their cases don’t matter much. We’re in a race with rivals to stay one step ahead.

 

Combat robots and military-use AI solutions will become an inherent part of the US military within the next 10-15 years, defense experts say. Washington is apparently seeking to gain military edge over China, Russia and other rivals, who are also investing in research and development of robotic systems, as are US allies the UK and Israel.

Now, it’s not just the military where that robots are going to make a mark. They’ve already had a huge impact on manufacturing. Within the last few years, there have been robots designed for nuclear clean up and even bartending.

 

Resisting the robotic world is futile. We’ve already let the rabbits out of the cage and they’re multiplying like crazy. There is no “going back” and it’s not a bad thing … unless those human workers who find themselves displaced by robotic technology are left to starve. But, I like to think that our governments will get that the old “get a job” model won’t work anymore when that point is reached.

 

https://zoombubba.com/blog/2017/06/15/robots-to-integrate-into-military-units/

[pneumantion]

applause

 

and not one fuck was given

 

applause

[Raptorpat]

Obviously less deaths on the battlefield is a good thing, but I think it also comes with the unintended consequence of it being less of a tragedy to avoid.

 

And another factor is the psychological factor, if it's anything like drone "pilots" basically playing a video game except the enemies are real people. That's gotta be weird to handle.