[LINK] (Real) Robot Warfare

[Frank O'Connor]

To my mind, the ethical implications of robots (or more intelligent weapons systems) are pretty much the same as the ethical implications of using any remote weapons delivery system.

Same as for ...

- Bombing from a great height (been done for the last 100 years or so - with untold millions of deaths and injuries)
- Launching an air to ground missile or otherwise powered ordinance from a plane (for the last 60 years or so - with millions in casualties)
- Launching an intercontinental ballistic missile (not yet done ... but the systems are there)

Bottom line: Once you release any highly destructive weapons systems toward a target, you should have already worked out the moral and ethical implications of it. You should have acted to limit 'collateral damage'. You should have safeguarded the interests of non-combatants.

Sadly (and they are probably right) those who conduct war maintain that morality often takes a back seat to expediency. Translation: You don't win wars whilst trying to fight them morally, especially if your opponent has no such qualms.

If human history has taught us anything, it's that fundamentally we are vicious unprincipled anthropoids juggling constantly and cunningly for advantage. Ethics is a comparatively recent invention that has yet to catch on. Especially in war. And I find the idea of a Moral War a contradiction in terms anyway.

						Regards,
---
On 05/12/2011, at 4:56 PM, jim birch wrote:

> There's an interesting podcast on robot/drone warfare on the ABC
> Philosophers Zone website:
> 
> http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/philosopherszone/the-morality-of-robo-wars---pw-singer/3701744
> 
> "This was one of the themes of a talk delivered at the Festival of
> Dangerous Ideas by Peter Warren Singer, Senior Fellow and Director of the
> 21st Century Defence Initiative at the Brookings Institution, the
> Washington think tank. He’s one of the world’s leading experts on changes
> in 21st century warfare. And he’s not just a policy wonk. He has a firm
> grasp on popular culture and he has advised on a video game series. So
> here’s PW Singer on robo-wars."
> 
> This is a look at the ethical and social implications rather than a techno
> oo-ah.  Also available as a transcript, but he's an engaging speaker.  (PW
> Singer is not the Australian utilitarian philosopher/friend of pigs.)
> 
> Cheers all,
> 
> Jim Birch
> e: planetjim at gmail.com
> m: 04 1243 1243
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