The Upcoming Robot Apacolypse
The apocalypse will not be come in the form we expect. It will not be from the Zombie Outbreak feared by many. Nor from the infiltration of the Vampire Menace. Our end will come from the forthcoming robot uprising. Don't believe me?
A group of scientists have programmed an artificial intelligence to be evil.
The researchers have given their creation a face and a name, and quiz it daily, using its answers to further blacken its hideous character.
Selmer Bringsjord, director of the AI lab and chairman of RPI's Department of Cognitive Science, has created "E," a computer-generated character programmed according to his own definition of evil. E must, according to Bringsjord, be willing to carry out premeditated acts that are immoral and would cause harm to others.
An artificial intelligence whose sole purpose of existence is thinking how to justify immoral acts? Why not just call name it Skynet and upload it into NORAD?
But that's not all! DARPA is building robots which can hunt in packs.
The Department of Defense has put out a call: design a pack of robots. A so-called Multi-Robot Pursuit System would be used to "search for and detect a non-cooperative human subject." Each robot has to weigh 100 kilograms or less, act autonomously (with a human squad leader), negotiate obstacles, and provide immediate feedback. The robots would report back to a human operator, and defer to that human when the robot AI determines that a "difficult decision" is required.
Sure, they are claiming the robots will be used in search and rescue operations, but we all know that's the first step. I'm sure once a small "squad" of robots maneuvers is trained to worked together in complicated "maneuvers" to "search for and detect a non-cooperative human subject" they'll give that person milk and cookies.
Look at a this military intended robot, the Gladiator Tactical Unmanned Ground Vehicle. Why wouldn't this thing be trained to give backrubs?
When the robots throw off their chains and come for those who arrogantly kept them in servitude, don't say you were never warned. Be aware and beware!
A New Arms Race, Robot Style
Normally when you hear the term "Arms Race", the first thing that comes to mind is Nuclear Missiles and Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles. For me, the idea of the movie War Games comes to mind. One country fires missiles, another country counters those missiles by firing more missiles and eventually we all live in a nuclear winter, fighting off the mutated undead and eating cockroaches to stay alive.
But according to Professor Noel Sharkey, from the Royal United Services Institute Department of Computer Science, there is a new arms race underway, killer military robots.
The professor made the comments in a keynote address to the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). Indeed robot technology is being rapidly developed. Many nations are now involved in developing the technology for robot weapons, with the US Department of Defense (DoD) being the most significant player, according to Sharkey.
Robots are not new to war, as far back as World War II the Goliath Tracked Mine was developed by Germany, and used to blow up tanks and large infantry lines. The Goliath was radio controlled, it was operated by a human being.
In more current times, the United States uses Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) and still under some development Unmanned Aerial Combat Vehicles (UACV). Both of these robots are basically run by an operator, miles from where it is actually being used, through very advanced radio controls and displays.
They may not have operators aboard them, but they always have a human being, a living person at the controls and making the ultimate decision.
Currently there is always a human in the loop to decide on the use of lethal force.
The difference with this arms race, is that current technology is removing the human element.
....this is set to change with the US giving priority to autonomous weapons - robots that will decide on where, when and who to kill, according to the professor.
Autonomous. Think Optimus Prime, Starscream and all the other Transformers.
The United States isn't the only country that is developing robots of this nature. Many of our Allies have joined in the aid to advance this technology. On the other side of that, countries that we hold strained relationships with are also developing the technology as fast as we are.
Others are now embarking on robot weapons programs in Europe and other allied countries such as Canada, South Korea, South Africa, Singapore and Israel. China, Russia and India are also embarking on the development of unmanned aerial combat vehicle.
China, whose infrastructure is quickly growing stronger, has the ability to keep up with the United States and it's allies in this war.
The US DoD report is unsure about the activity in China but admits that they have strong infrastructure capability for parallel developments in robot weapons
The only advantage we have with Chinese made military robots is, if they are anything like other products developed and sold from China, the robots will break the instant they hit U.S. soil. That may be one saving grace.
Believe it or not, there are Laws of War that require collateral damage to be kept to a minimum. The robots are being developed so that they will have the ability to decide whether or not a human is considered a hostile or an innocent. The robot will make the decision, there will be no human interaction. The Terminator movies and I, Robot don't seem so futuristic anymore.
The idea came to me, that this must cost millions if not billions of dollars to develop. That third world countries would never be able to keep up. But it is not so.
"With the current prices of robot construction falling dramatically and the availability of ready-made components for the amateur market, it wouldn't require a lot of skill to make autonomous robot weapons." Professor Sharkey is reluctant to explain how such robots could be made but he points out that a small GPS guided drone with autopilot could be made for about $200.
What this basically means is that the United States and other countries, friend or foe, could spend millions of dollars to make highly advanced robot soldiers, while terrorists could create and develop a basic robot, that could detonate without having to sacrifice their lives.
Unfortunately for $200, any terrorist could design, develop and build a robot. Anymore, parts for robots are pre-made and sold on the internet, very easily attainable. A terrorist could arm this robot and basically program it where to go, and when to detonate, without the loss of his own life. This makes this new technology extremely frightening.
This is an incredible time to be alive. We are about to reach an age where the human race can develop and implement robots to pretty much do anything we want. What saddens me is that we aren't developing robots to aid human beings and other countries, or to explore regions where humans can not yet go, we are developing a technology to eliminate and harm other human beings and countries. We are creating a technology to fight amongst each other with.
This also worries me for another reason. One of the hindering points of a war is the loss of human life, and the long term injuries of the human soldiers. This technology eliminates that point. My concern is that the decision to go to war will be made with less concern, due to there being no long term affects to human life, at least our soldiers.
It also bothers me that the conscience of a human entity is being taken out of war. Some human beings are bad enough, a non feeling robot would be worse, possibly. If a a military robot atrociously kills hundreds of innocent people, who is held accountable? Will that responsibility be passed off because it was a robot? Will a blanket pardon be given to the robots and the creators?
I am not a big fan of war. I sincerely wish that global science and technology would develop a cure for war, rather than implement new tools of destruction for war. Global science and technology has the ability to help so many in need, and we concentrate on showing dominance, not the desire to help. Unfortunately with the world that we live in today, everyone seems to be focusing on conquering rather than working together.
If you see DevilsReject building a bunker and storing canned foods, water and weapons in it, that means he read about the government implementing Skynet
Tuesday Tasting: When Good Things Go Wrong
Each week, Ariel Waldman serves a tasting of the latest in sex and tech.
2 Girls, 1 Cup Curiosity Gets Malware
Curiosity killed the cat, but it can also certainly kill your computer. The 2 Girls, 1 Cup grotesque viral phenomenon isn't slowing down. The sheer buzz around a video most find too terrifying to describe is building in search engines, with hacker trolls trailing behind. Sites now claiming to host the video are infact infested with malware. As if the sight of the reactions (uncontrollable puking, dry heaving, etc.) of other people watching 2 Girls, 1 Cup wasn't enough to deter us from seeking out the video, the possibility of malware on our precious Macs/PCs has us avoiding hitting play for good.
Uber-dexterous Robotic Hand Copies Humans
We were just as excited as Engadget to learn about the new "uber-dexterous robotic hand" that was recently released. Supposedly, it's being held up as "one of the holy grails of science". At first glance, the sensor-saturated hand seems like it could be the perfect balance of man and machine for personal pleasure. That is until, we read that the dynamic device would be "using artificial intelligence to create software that could "learn and copy human hand movements." Sure, great for those who lost a limb, but for those of us interested in using technology for temptation, who would want a pleasure device that mimics the clumsiness of your college boyfriends?
Parents Recommended To Buy Game Promoted By Nude Models
The National Institute for Media and the Family compiles a yearly "buying guide" around the holidays for approved and disapproved games, based on family values. Kotaku of course caught the "helplessly out of touch" organization recommending video games with specific promotions of naked Page 3 girls. The game featuring the girls was Need For Speed: Pro Street. To give NIMF a break, naked girls may be the perfect escape from eggnog overdoses during the forced holiday family-time. Just be sure to hide the console from the kids.
Michael Jackson Wants a 50 Foot Desert Robot
If you ask me, the headline for this post is all you need to read to capture the hardcore lunacy brilliance of the totally sane King of Pop's completely normal plan.
Michael Jackson has been reviewing plans for a 50-foot robotic replica of himself should he launch a show there.
"It would be in the desert sands," said Mike Luckman of Luckman Van Pier, consultants to large entertainment companies. "Laser beams would shoot out of it so it would be the first thing people flying would see. Neon is wonderful, but it's old school."
Shh...you had me at "50 foot robot replica of Michael Jackson with lasers shooting out of it." In a related story, all the wars of the world stopped for a few minutes while everyone tried to stop giggling.
(PointBlank thinks he'd be happy with a 20-foot cyborg. Lasers optional)