Video Monday: P.W. Singer On Robots And The Future Of War
Writing by Evan Ackerman on Monday, 6 of April , 2009 at 3:13 am
This is a TEDTalk by P.W. Singer, author of Wired For War, a book about how robots are changing the way we fight. In his 16 minute talk there are lots of tasty pictures of robots, pretty much all of which we’ve covered here on BotJunkie. But the absolute coolest thing (in my opinion) is right at the beginning, where Singer shows a before and after picture of iRobot PackBot #129, which was blown while attempting to disarm an IED, along with a postcard to iRobot from the troops who didn’t get blown up. We’ve written about this before, and it’s just another reminder why military robot alarmists need to take a long, hard look at where exactly their priorities are.
Of course, Singer discusses the other side, too… When war is faught by robots, it’s a lot easier to make the decision to go to war. I have to take issue, though, with the thing about the anti-aircraft cannon in South Africa. We wrote about it after it happened, and the expert consensus seemed to be that it was a mechanical malfunction, not software.
I think the way Singer ended his talk really sums up this whole issue about whether military robots are good or bad. Ultimately, it’s not about the robots, it’s about us. We (humans) are the people who build the robots, program the robots, and use the robots, and it’s our responsibility to ensure that they are used justly and wisely.
[ TED ]
Comments (2)
Category: Military
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Comment by Chris
Made Monday, 6 of April , 2009 at 7:53 pm
typo- “I think the was Singer ended his talk”
Comment by Evan Ackerman
Made Monday, 6 of April , 2009 at 9:16 pm
Oopsie. Fixed.