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Military robots are autonomous or remote-controlled devices designed for military applications. Such systems are currently being researched by a number of militaries. Already remarkable success has been achieved with unmanned aerial vehicles like the Predator drone, which are capable of taking surveillance photographs, and even accurately launching missiles at ground targets, without a pilot. A subclass of these are Unmanned Combat Air Vehicles, which are designed to carry out strike missions in combat. Present use The term "robot" is often a misnomer in the present day to refer to these machines, since while a robot performs "autonomous or preprogrammed tasks" most "robots" in current use are in fact remote controlled by a human operator and have no automation or intelligence, due to the limitions of current artificial intelligence. Robots are used increasingly in wartime situations to reduce human casualties, being used for a mix of both combat against the enemy and non-combat roles such as scouting, bomb disposal. At present stages robot casualties are less financially damaging than human, SWORDs taking $230,000 to produce while the average cost of a U.S. soldier from enlistment to internment is $4,000,000.* Developments Defense contractors in the USA are hard at work developing autonomous "robot soldiers", but most current models look more like tanks than humans. There are problems with threat recognition and response; some models will not shoot cows with guerillas crouched behind them, but will fire on anything stenciled with an AK-47 silhouette. In December 2003, the Associated Press reported that The Pentagon had purchased several Segways, as part of a research program called "Mobile Autonomous Robot Software", an attempt to develop more advanced military robots. Examples of systems in development Systems in current use Issues The implications of mastering and using this type of technology are wide, with the possibility of advanced artificial intelligence causing unforseen consequences (especially if weaponized machines are ever given AI on the level of sentience), the possibility of robots being hacked into and used against the owners or the possibility of simple machine breakdown leaving soldiers defenceless if robots are relied on too much. In literature, a play published in 1921, 'Rossum's Universal Robots' by Czech writer Karel Capek, tells the story of how people built better and better robots until they finally built robots to fight wars. In the end, the robots decide that fighting is crazy, and take over the world. This idea has since become a common staple of fiction in books, films and television. There are many advantages in robotic technology in warefare however, as outlined by Major Kenneth Rose of the US Army's Training and Doctrine Command*: "Machines don't get tired. They don't close their eyes. They don't hide under trees when it rains and they don't talk to their buddies ... A human's attention to detail on guard duty drops dramatically in the first 30 minutes ... Machines know no fear." Fiction Military robots are common in fiction of all media. Film Television Literature Computer games See also Organisations News articles/Press releases | |||||||
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