Slaughterbots

[Senyosu]

but my guy i believe that isn't the real question

the real question: are autonomous weapons in general an ok thing and if so what must we do so as to ensure such tech doesn't fall into the wrong hands

a question for the policy maker

To be honest, it's 2:00 AM and my mind was defaulting to "violent robot uprising" as the problem.

it's okay im not sober and im listening to some robots singing about becoming gods

[Nantoraka]

To be honest, it's 2:00 AM and my mind was defaulting to "violent robot uprising" as the problem.

it's okay im not sober and im listening to some robots singing about becoming gods

At least some robots will always be loyal to us

[Independant Nations and Guilds]

My suggestion to this, to how such technology should be handled... is to add a simple stop-gap in there: that such machines can lock on to targets all they want, but in order to actually use lethal force at all they should require confirmation from a human controller. The tech is too useful to give up (and even if were were to do so, not everyone would), but likewise I see the potential for "very bad things".

While I can see the tech falling into the wrong hands, definitely, the more likely situation I see happening (at least in frequency) is error. Considering that people have been detained simply for having the same name as a wanted terrorist... well, just imagine if a combat robot that doesn't require permission were to make that same mistake. There would be outrage, to say the least. These machines are driven by programs, and the larger a program becomes, the greater the chance for glitches and errors.

Having a human controlled required to authorize the use of lethal force would put the responsibility for killing back into human hands, and would also help prevent such errors. It would also add an additional layer of security against the machines falling into the wrong hands.

That's just my thoughts on the matter.

[Empire of Narnia]

People shouldn't be afraid of robots. If you want to see what robots will be like in the future, don't watch the Terminator, ride Splash Mountain instead. Technology will make our lives better and more fun. Fear is just going to hold us back. People used to be afraid of television and video games at one time, but both those things turned out great.

[Independant Nations and Guilds]

People shouldn't be afraid of robots. If you want to see what robots will be like in the future, don't watch the Terminator, ride Splash Mountain instead. Technology will make our lives better and more fun. Fear is just going to hold us back. People used to be afraid of television and video games at one time, but both those things turned out great.

I've grown up with lots of technological improvements over the years. When I was really young, we had these things called "VHS tapes". As I got older, there were "DVDs". Then came Blu-Ray. When I was really young, the Internet was still kinda new. I grew up with the Internet, really, and have seen how it went from "something fun to spend time on" to "necessary for our lives because every last damned thing is on it". That isn't to say it isn't "something fun to spend time on" anymore, but that doesn't change the latter in the slightest.

I can say from my experiences... technology is not bad, and it can be fun, but it won't necessarily make life better, and it certainly will not make life easier. But I don't blame it on technology. A lot of the problems with technology are because of people. People misusing it, or taking it directions it isn't meant to go. People being too lax with safety around it, or in other cases being too restrictive with it.

And again, my solution above stands. That would mostly ensure that only the right people get shot, maimed, or killed. And it has the benefit of providing a legal safety-net: if someone who wasn't supposed to get shot does, the person on duty can be held liable for allowing lethal force when they shouldn't have.

[The Empire of Pretantia]

It's as easy as putting basic facial recognition and programming it not to crash into things.

No, it isn't.

If I release a drone in the middle of my neighborhood and tell it to go murder someone in downtown Seattle, does it then have to search every single moving object it sees and try and scan to see if they have a face? How exactly is it searching- I'll need to give it navigational capabilities of some sort, but does it do a grid search or a spiral or something else? Can it see through windows (even tinted ones)? What if it sees someone or something that triggers a false positive from its facial recognition? What if it's searching every person it can find and starts going in totally the wrong direction? Do I have to give it coordinates and just hope the person is there at the right time? What happens if the person is wearing makeup or has a hood on or something? What if they don't show at all, will it just buzz around looking for a target until its battery dies? What if I only gave it one photo of the person? What if I want a bunch of drones to take out a bunch of people in a coordinated strike on a building complex, and I need some of them to blow in the windows or doors so the rest can go inside? How do I even tell them I want them to attack a specific location and give them the information they need to do that? How do I get them to coordinate their efforts so we get the kind of seamless, efficient carnage we see in that video? What if I have multiple drones wasting themselves on a single target, because they're all seeing a database of a bunch of targets? What if they're attacked or stopped by someone who isn't their target? What's their response if they get hit with jamming or active countermeasures (including perhaps other drones, either directly targeting them or acting as impostors to try and mess up the swarm somehow) anyways? What if each drone has one target, but then some get taken out somehow and some of my targets walk? How do I make them be flexible enough to re-assign if operational conditions call for it while they're in the field? How do they know what their comrades are doing in real time so they can take that into account?

There are a huge variety of problems that make this so much more complicated than "give it a face and tell it to fly."

>Doubting the power of technology

[Arkeyana]

Just like any weapon, we'd develop a failsafe to counter it.

and to those who say that they are vulnerable to EMP, think about this:

After a very precise strike was launched at a terrorist hideout, the drones were jammed and disabled by an EMP. They all fell harmlessly to the ground a few feet away. Then, they were taken up, reprogrammed, and released on, let's say, A small part of New York. What do you get, Chaos everywhere as it is branded as a "Robot Uprising". All because of a failed strike.

[Ifreann]

Just like any weapon, we'd develop a failsafe to counter it.

and to those who say that they are vulnerable to EMP, think about this:

After a very precise strike was launched at a terrorist hideout, the drones were jammed and disabled by an EMP. They all fell harmlessly to the ground a few feet away. Then, they were taken up, reprogrammed, and released on, let's say, A small part of New York. What do you get, Chaos everywhere as it is branded as a "Robot Uprising". All because of a failed strike.

Who are these terrorists who can create EMP bursts but only use them to defend their hideout?

[Wansul]

This could be easily abused

[Arkeyana]

Just like any weapon, we'd develop a failsafe to counter it.

and to those who say that they are vulnerable to EMP, think about this:

After a very precise strike was launched at a terrorist hideout, the drones were jammed and disabled by an EMP. They all fell harmlessly to the ground a few feet away. Then, they were taken up, reprogrammed, and released on, let's say, A small part of New York. What do you get, Chaos everywhere as it is branded as a "Robot Uprising". All because of a failed strike.

Who are these terrorists who can create EMP bursts but only use them to defend their hideout?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

beats da heck outta me.

[The Empire of Pretantia]

Who are these terrorists who can create EMP bursts but only use them to defend their hideout?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

beats da heck outta me.

And how are they supposed to function after being fried?

You haven't thought this through.

[Risottia]

Murderbot is a much better name than Slaughterbot.

Bender Bending Rodriguez is much better.

[Ifreann]

Murderbot is a much better name than Slaughterbot.

Bender Bending Rodriguez is much better.

A traditional robot name.

[The Derpy Democratic Republic Of Herp]

Reminds me of this animation.

This just makes me think:

What happens after humanity is dead from a war?

Will there still be robots fighting battles after all of man kind is dead?

[Greed and Death]

Zapp taught us that the way to deal with kill bots is to send waves and waves of men against them and once they reach their kill counter they shut down.

[Greed and Death]

Reminds me of this animation.

This just makes me think:

What happens after humanity is dead from a war?

Will there still be robots fighting battles after all of man kind is dead?

I so want weapons like that.

[Methodological Individualism]

Zapp taught us that the way to deal with kill bots is to send waves and waves of men against them and once they reach their kill counter they shut down.

Or just use a logical paradox.

Assuming they're not equipped with paradox-absorbing crumple zones.

[Senkaku]

No, it isn't.

If I release a drone in the middle of my neighborhood and tell it to go murder someone in downtown Seattle, does it then have to search every single moving object it sees and try and scan to see if they have a face? How exactly is it searching- I'll need to give it navigational capabilities of some sort, but does it do a grid search or a spiral or something else? Can it see through windows (even tinted ones)? What if it sees someone or something that triggers a false positive from its facial recognition? What if it's searching every person it can find and starts going in totally the wrong direction? Do I have to give it coordinates and just hope the person is there at the right time? What happens if the person is wearing makeup or has a hood on or something? What if they don't show at all, will it just buzz around looking for a target until its battery dies? What if I only gave it one photo of the person? What if I want a bunch of drones to take out a bunch of people in a coordinated strike on a building complex, and I need some of them to blow in the windows or doors so the rest can go inside? How do I even tell them I want them to attack a specific location and give them the information they need to do that? How do I get them to coordinate their efforts so we get the kind of seamless, efficient carnage we see in that video? What if I have multiple drones wasting themselves on a single target, because they're all seeing a database of a bunch of targets? What if they're attacked or stopped by someone who isn't their target? What's their response if they get hit with jamming or active countermeasures (including perhaps other drones, either directly targeting them or acting as impostors to try and mess up the swarm somehow) anyways? What if each drone has one target, but then some get taken out somehow and some of my targets walk? How do I make them be flexible enough to re-assign if operational conditions call for it while they're in the field? How do they know what their comrades are doing in real time so they can take that into account?

There are a huge variety of problems that make this so much more complicated than "give it a face and tell it to fly."

>Doubting the power of technology

Well, it certainly seems a bit more complex than "basic facial recognition and not crashing into things" :^)

Which means that you can jam them and develop very simple countermeasures (to say nothing of just banning them for civilian purchase in the first place and keeping the software a secret).

[Greed and Death]

Zapp taught us that the way to deal with kill bots is to send waves and waves of men against them and once they reach their kill counter they shut down.

Or just use a logical paradox.

Assuming they're not equipped with paradox-absorbing crumple zones.

As commander I will just send waives of men at them while I drink Cham Pagan.

[Senyosu]

Will there still be robots fighting battles after all of man kind is dead?

If you have Steam or a PS4, play NieR: Automata.

[Arkeyana]

No, it isn't.

If I release a drone in the middle of my neighborhood and tell it to go murder someone in downtown Seattle, does it then have to search every single moving object it sees and try and scan to see if they have a face? How exactly is it searching- I'll need to give it navigational capabilities of some sort, but does it do a grid search or a spiral or something else? Can it see through windows (even tinted ones)? What if it sees someone or something that triggers a false positive from its facial recognition? What if it's searching every person it can find and starts going in totally the wrong direction? Do I have to give it coordinates and just hope the person is there at the right time? What happens if the person is wearing makeup or has a hood on or something? What if they don't show at all, will it just buzz around looking for a target until its battery dies? What if I only gave it one photo of the person? What if I want a bunch of drones to take out a bunch of people in a coordinated strike on a building complex, and I need some of them to blow in the windows or doors so the rest can go inside? How do I even tell them I want them to attack a specific location and give them the information they need to do that? How do I get them to coordinate their efforts so we get the kind of seamless, efficient carnage we see in that video? What if I have multiple drones wasting themselves on a single target, because they're all seeing a database of a bunch of targets? What if they're attacked or stopped by someone who isn't their target? What's their response if they get hit with jamming or active countermeasures (including perhaps other drones, either directly targeting them or acting as impostors to try and mess up the swarm somehow) anyways? What if each drone has one target, but then some get taken out somehow and some of my targets walk? How do I make them be flexible enough to re-assign if operational conditions call for it while they're in the field? How do they know what their comrades are doing in real time so they can take that into account?

There are a huge variety of problems that make this so much more complicated than "give it a face and tell it to fly."

I agree, a Nanoswarm seems to be the better option in this argument.

[Zanera]

I think the takeaway is that we're all going to die from tiny drone dudes.

[NeoOasis]

Great, Africa has managed to jump head in anti-drone tech. They can just repurpose their mosquito nets into anti-drone nets.

[Senkaku]

No, it isn't.

If I release a drone in the middle of my neighborhood and tell it to go murder someone in downtown Seattle, does it then have to search every single moving object it sees and try and scan to see if they have a face? How exactly is it searching- I'll need to give it navigational capabilities of some sort, but does it do a grid search or a spiral or something else? Can it see through windows (even tinted ones)? What if it sees someone or something that triggers a false positive from its facial recognition? What if it's searching every person it can find and starts going in totally the wrong direction? Do I have to give it coordinates and just hope the person is there at the right time? What happens if the person is wearing makeup or has a hood on or something? What if they don't show at all, will it just buzz around looking for a target until its battery dies? What if I only gave it one photo of the person? What if I want a bunch of drones to take out a bunch of people in a coordinated strike on a building complex, and I need some of them to blow in the windows or doors so the rest can go inside? How do I even tell them I want them to attack a specific location and give them the information they need to do that? How do I get them to coordinate their efforts so we get the kind of seamless, efficient carnage we see in that video? What if I have multiple drones wasting themselves on a single target, because they're all seeing a database of a bunch of targets? What if they're attacked or stopped by someone who isn't their target? What's their response if they get hit with jamming or active countermeasures (including perhaps other drones, either directly targeting them or acting as impostors to try and mess up the swarm somehow) anyways? What if each drone has one target, but then some get taken out somehow and some of my targets walk? How do I make them be flexible enough to re-assign if operational conditions call for it while they're in the field? How do they know what their comrades are doing in real time so they can take that into account?

There are a huge variety of problems that make this so much more complicated than "give it a face and tell it to fly."

I agree, a Nanoswarm seems to be the better option in this argument.

The technological obstacles with creating viable nanobots, much less actual nanoweapons, are enormous. Drones like the ones in the video? Yeah, we could make something like those, though they'd really not be much like that. Nanoweapons? We're a long ways away.

Great, Africa has managed to jump head in anti-drone tech. They can just repurpose their mosquito nets into anti-drone nets.

Tbh in all the discussions about countermeasures, I just realized we hadn't even really discussed just bringing a butterfly net around with yourself.

[The Lone Alliance]

Why bother making an hour long video when you could just use stock footage of small soldiers, Terminator 1 2 3 whatever, Iron Man 2, and all the other varied movies and video games where AIs go on killing sprees?

And if we're worried about slaughter bots being hacked to kill people then we REALLY should be afraid of someone hacking the Driverless cars into going Maximum Overdrive on people.

You have a problem with a political rival in his driverless car, just hire someone hack it to get a new path or cause it to glitch and shut down at the wrong moment, like going 70 down the freeway.