C.I.C. or SIC, Poor Robot

As I begin to write this blog on paper I am listening to a video about the beginning of World War 2. Behind the rise of those idiot dictators was the military. Armies comprised of humans have crossed all parts of our world for most of our history. It seems peace is always so temporary.  Now as I write this I reside in a free country where I am allowed to say or think pretty much what I decide. My military in this part of the world safeguards me in my way of life from those who would try to take it away, disrupt and possibly destroy it.

We use technology to make life easier. New medical techniques prolong the life of millions. New medicines make life more pleasant. We also use technology to make machines to write our letters, wash and dry our clothes, light our desks so that I am able to write these words.

However all the technology that has been used in our past were tools that could be manipulated by those who created them. They had no will or even the smallest amount of intelligence. I mean that when I hit my hammer on a nail to hang a picture I don`t give it a second thought.

Sadly as I write this blog some 50 countries are using orcontemplating using robots in war. Noel Sharkey has a wonderful weekly radio show entitled `Sound of Science`. He has had some great shows devoted to robots. He has talked and written about robot use in the military. He and I are very concerned that  not enough thought has gone into this application. Ironic that we are going to use machine intelligence and not think it through.

The use of the word `` use`` in the last sentence should be qualified. To use robots in war is actually misuse. To do this to those poor machines is just plain wrong. I get the feeling and I could be wrong, that they are going to be used to inflict damage and pain and not to serve tea to the front line troops. Peter Singer has written about this in his book `` Wired for War``. He too is concerned about the future. He states that there are some professional soldiers who hope that robots develop to the stage where humans can be left out of the loop. As it stands now the final command decisions are made by humans. How long before the advancements made will keep this as a viable option.

Yes we know that it would be cost effective to equip robots to fight and ``die`` for us in all the miltary theatres of the world. However those on the other side  will have clever people so they too can have robots to do their fighting. So our future will be where robots fight each other for their creators.

As I end part 1 of this subject I see a few bright spots in all of the possible paths this future might take. Firstly a lot more people are becoming aware of this subject. The higher ups ,whoever they may be,  are not paying any serious attention. However  when this grass roots movement begins to roar, they will have no choice but to listen. Secondly I am glad this subject of building intelligent machines is particularly difficult. If it had been easier the whole picture would have ben a lot different.

Take Care

Pius

Missing in Inaction

What happened to me all these long months???

I mean the reason a person starts a blog is to rant every so often. I like getting up on a virtual soapbox and letting people who are kind enough to read my words know what is happenning with me.

I have great excuses but in the final analysis there is no excuse for just letting the blog go silent for too long a time. I have read such boring articles by people who are suppossed to write for a living. It seems they are jaded or the subjects they are supposed to give us insights on are jaded. One of the best phrases I have encounterd was said by a very thoughtful radio personality. He sated that all of us are alloted a certain number of words each day. I wonder if we took that point of view we would be more careful of what we say.

Well I have stored my cache of words and there are a lot of things to write about. I let you in on my secret. Now mind you this one is not top secret so it is quite all right for it to be in cyberspace. Before I write in my blog I organize my thoughts and spelling on a piece of paper. I know it is old fashioned but it allso allows me to write several subjects at the same time. You would be amazed how thoughts open up so many windows in the mind.

One last confession, when I type in the blog I do so in the age old tradition of one finger at a time. I have seen with awe and fascination people who do not look at the keyboard and can type like the wind. In a word, WOW !!

Tonight will be the first on series of articles where I will let the known universe understand my view of the use of robots in war.

Take Care

Pius