Robots to Replace Troops on the Battlefield

I knew this day was coming when they would publicly say this...

The Pentagon is considering replacing thousands of troops with robots, a military commander said recently, marking the first time a DOD official has publicly acknowledged that humans would be replaced with robots on the battlefield.

Robots to replace troops on the battlefield

reply to post by Jaellma


I agree. More kill power and less reason.

Doesn't that describe the soldier already deployed to some extent, though? Aren't soldiers programmed to obey orders somewhat robotically? Isn't that why they select young adults for that role?

If anything, actual automatons will finally remove any doubt of that (following programming).

The world is slowly becoming G.I. Joe. And that's pretty cool.

reply to post by Jaellma


From your link:

So far, the company has developed the AlphaDog robot, designed to haul heavy military equipment for soldiers. Last year alone, DOD spent $7 million on the Avatar Program, which is attempting to find a way to upload a soldier’s consciousness to a robot. It also spent $11 million on a program that is developing robots that act autonomously.

Is there something they're not telling us? Like, um, how far exactly has military technology advanced? Upload a soldier's consciousness? Really?

Already posted here

Someone beat you to it.

lol, pfffff it'll be a long time before that happens!
In terms if shear firepower and loss of life, robots do have the advantage....but then again you gotta have a staging ground, people to man them, power them...a whole slew infrastructure you have to rebuild.
Robots will never have that instinctive advantage a human has, the ability to think on the fly an moments notice, our compassion, whats right an wrong...
Now embedded robotic units sounds alot more reasonable.
Plus you still gotta tackle to mobile power source and jamming issues from potential adversaries capable of pulling that off.
Okay, maybe an asymetric, hunt an kill in the caves might work, but you can never replace man from the battlefield.
Now exoskeletons for enhance battle power an defense would be something else an more akin to real world...
think of the movie, Edge of Tomorrow.

reply to post by Jaellma


Robots won't refuse to shoot civilians.

Does anyone see the elephant in the room?
Who are the robots supposed to fight? Other robots? We already have video games lol
Unless they are to kill humans but why is it being sold as robots fighting humans as a good thing?

reply to post by TheDualityExperience

Who are the robots supposed to fight?

Civilian infrastructure.

War is a war against civilians ultimately.

Destroy cities, power, sewage, communication, transport.

That translates to power plants, water treatment, TV and phone exchange, roads, bridges, agriculture. Starvation and disease are the desired result.

Winning a war is making life so miserable for the people that their government sues for peace (or abdicates).

See Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and Syria.

Saddam, Qaddafi, and Assad "Must Go"!

Robots have no pity for humans.

intrptr


War is a war against civilians ultimately.

Enough said. Robots do not know what right or wrong is either in a way that humans can.
Unwise combo when it is laid out like that.

reply to post by TheDualityExperience

Robots do not know what right or wrong is either in a way that humans can.

Yep.

"It doesn't get happy, it doesn't get sad. It just runs programs." --from the movie, "Short Circuit"

Orwellian and Terminator realities coming to birth at the same time?

D-mn, I'd have thought we had more time than that.

reply to post by St0rD


That is what everyone always thought even myself.
But what is time but the shackles of the past anyway.

I see a new industry ... robot protestors!

Instead of going to a protest and risk arrest or injury, send in a wave or robots to deal with the police. Control them anonymously from the comfort and privacy of a remote location. Give them drones for air support. Equip them with a deadman explosive to prevent capture.

I wonder if I could sell the idea to a Chinese business.

reply to post by Jaellma


How about humans stop wasting money and fighting.

St0rD
Orwellian and Terminator realities coming to birth at the same time?

D-mn, I'd have thought we had more time than that.

Really, Wasn't the original whole idea of war to wipe out the enemy? Not to destroy their robots, what would that accomplish?
At least in the old days warring factions supposedly hated each other, it got personal when fighting hand to hand, and ended when one or both sides couldn't stand it anymore. How does it end with robots?

Now we have the unpleasant terminator sort of possible outcome where the robots on both sides find it easier to wipe out the "easier to defeat" humans on both sides first and then fight each other... it's only logical.

Or if that doesn't happen and your robots beat my robots - I say "so what" and the outcome is a "real" war?
Neither outcome makes any sense. I don't get it.

Of course when it comes to war I never did get it...

reply to post by Jaellma


Nothing like developing a robotic soldier that has no morality or can't distinguish between right or wrong. It's easier to program a machine to kill it's own citizens without questioning it. I really don't like where this is going.

It's bad enough they recruit young kids out of high school and brain wash them into never questioning an order. Instead of creating more ways to fight wars, they should be spending more time and effort on eliminating the mentality of using war to solve world differences.

reply to post by Jaellma


I get the feeling that the publicized intent is more for the mule type of aspect, to relieve troops of the need to do mundane daily tasks.

But I also get the feeling that in the end, killing machines are the goal. I also get the feeling that it is being developed in tandem and fully integrated with drone technology.

Laugh. Go ahead.

reply to post by Jaellma


Important find.

F&S