continuum:

azspot:

“My research hypothesis is that intelligent robots can behave more ethically in the battlefield than humans currently can,” says Dr. Arkin. “That’s the case I make.”

Analogous to missile guidance systems that need the use of radar and a radio or a wired link between the control point and the missile, Arkin’s “ethical controller” is a software architecture that provides, “ethical control and a reasoning system potentially suitable for constraining lethal actions in an autonomous robotic system so that they fall within the bounds prescribed by the Geneva Conventions, the Laws of War, and the Rules of Engagement.”

I was walking through a particularly terrible neighborhood in Brooklyn. I was thinking, “What if these beautiful buildings were filled with hard-working good citizens who cared about their neighborhood, instead of drug dealers and thieves?” I was reminded of Hunter Thompsons’s speech about how god-awful the idea of a neutron bomb is. I’ve always thought that if you take into account all the so-called “Laws of War” and look back through history, the neutron bomb seems to be a logical tool. It kills your enemy outright, but leaves the infrastructure in place for future humans use. This might be the worst thought that has ever crossed my mind. But in modern videogame-style warfare, it makes a lot of sense.