A senior figure in the Ukrainian defence industry told New Scientist that a test took place two years ago involving fully autonomous drones set to destroy anything in a given area, with confirmed casualties
Even setting aside any apocalyptic scenarios, this is bad. You used to have to look your enemy in the eyes and stab them. Then you just had to see them from afar and shoot them. Now you don’t have to acknowledge them at all.
Most of the casualties were from bombers for a long time already, this is that but one step removed.
It’s bad for a different reason, you in this case don’t exist anymore. We used to have people killing people, now there are autonomous robots doing this, and that’s a new, completely different class of warfare.
Even before bombers existed for every person killed on a battlefield a ton of people who didn’t see a single enemy soldier died because that army had destroyed or used up the region’s food supplies or introduced a new disease or diverted a river’s water.
Even setting aside any apocalyptic scenarios, this is bad. You used to have to look your enemy in the eyes and stab them. Then you just had to see them from afar and shoot them. Now you don’t have to acknowledge them at all.
Most of the casualties were from bombers for a long time already, this is that but one step removed.
It’s bad for a different reason, you in this case don’t exist anymore. We used to have people killing people, now there are autonomous robots doing this, and that’s a new, completely different class of warfare.
Even before bombers existed for every person killed on a battlefield a ton of people who didn’t see a single enemy soldier died because that army had destroyed or used up the region’s food supplies or introduced a new disease or diverted a river’s water.
The scariest thing is, autonomous “soldiers” can do what bombers cannot: Go building-to-building and door-to-door.
The cost and risk of urban engagements and “boots on the ground” was usually the final commitment of warfare.
Exactly