Change is inevitable and there’s nothing we can do about it, but the “pace of all this change” should receive our full attention. Before we even introduce more advanced robots to war we have to figure out how to use them properly and effectively because “anything that can go wrong will go wrong,” especially if we are unprepared. “We have to get it right the first time” (434). There’s very little room for human error. Essentially, in order for nothing to go wrong, we’re going to have to be perfect. However, perfection is unattainable, especially among humans. And what if it’s not possible to get it right the first time? Will we be doomed? What happens now is what determines the future and if we screw up now, the results could be detrimental.
“Mistakes are not just in robot nature, but also in human nature” (434). We put so much trust into technology, but we forget that we are the ones who create it. If humans are prone to making errors, our robots in turn will as well. That’s why we keep fixing them, because they’re not doing what we want them to do. This then contributes to the swift change in technology.
Additionally, if people decide to remain ignorant and “fear what they don’t know,” how will they be able to adjust to this rapid change in technology? They are avoiding the challenges that they must face.
Ignorance, lack of preparation, and fast paced change don’t create a pleasant mix when going into war, but unfortunately these three components are what war has been comprised of for a long time. We need to work on improving ourselves before we begin to improve technology. We’re not doing ourselves a favor by not learning from our mistakes and could possibly be left behind if we don’t address the problems that human nature burdens us with.
Yes, we have had these same conflicts in the past and still succeeded, but as science fiction is becoming more realistic than ever we need to consider how our flaws and innate desire to acquire more than what we already have will hurt us even more in the future. Will we be able to handle these mutating conflicts like we did in the past?
There’s also the issue of whether we should focus more on creating better technology for war or maintaining “society’s collective intellect, energy, drive, and resources” (436). Robots aren’t inexpensive and require an abundance of input from the people in this country. If technology continues to move this quickly, we will eventually be drained and stripped of our freedom because humans are wired for war.
Although the fear of imperfect robots built by equally incompetent humans is warranted, it is overly inflated. It took hundreds of inventors to flap their artificially built wings to their deaths to create the first airplane. Similarly, it took hundreds more to create the first working parachute. You can never get it right the first time—never! The world’s first guns were so dangerous that soldiers avoided them. They could just explode in the soldier's hands killing him instantly. It took centuries to bring the gun to its current perfection. We must come to terms with reality: we can never “get it right the first time”.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Hadi that this fear is "overly inflated". While the threat of danger exists with unmanned weaponry and vehicles, I think the fear is brought on more by Hollywood than science. After exposure to the Terminator series and the idea of Skynet, people are fearful (myself included) of what robots could potentially mean for the future of humanity. While the idea is certainly threatening and rightfully so, I find that this fear draws upon some big "what ifs" that don't have enough evidence to be backed. For the times being, this fear remains to be an unsupported claim.
ReplyDeleteI hardly think that we will get up one day and find that we have been enslaved by machines. Such technological achievents take time. We are still far from creating true AI. Robots are not the solution to war. It was not technology that created war but human nature. Robots are just the next in a long line of increasingly powerful weaponry. Everyday we get more efficient in the production of goods. In the future it will be cheaper and far less resource intensive to develop unmanned systems.
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ReplyDeleteI believe we are not wired for war at all. I think we do not fully realize the potential these technologie shave and the impact they might have in our daily life.
ReplyDeleteI think that we are not able to handle these technologies, because if we still make mistakes we technologies such as facebook, Text Messaging or Twitter and we are not even able to assume our mistakes instead we blame the technologies. How can we be prepare to assume the consequences of errors that might affect the National Security of a country.
I also believe that the development of these technologies might increase already existing disparities among countries and created a new worldwide division among those countries that have and use robots and those who does not. We already can see that division regarding the use of sustainable energy sources, environmentally sustainable cars. Also i believe it is not acceptable that nations focus on the development of these technologies instead of solving social issues that they might have.
"Change is inevitable and there’s nothing we can do about it" would earn you The Brick after Project 2 is done, when we'll begin to bring the dreaded thing to class.
ReplyDeleteI'd qualify it by writing "Change today seems inevitable." After all, some societies in times past had long centuries of relative stasis, as with some of China's dynasties, Egyptian kingdoms, or the Pax Romana.
Okay, writing hat comes off now and robot hat goes on. Your qualifier, that the pace of change can be altered, makes for a solid claim. It may take a terrible mistake in war with robots to make us question their use as more than a "warfighter's assistant." Singer's consideration of how robots might serve alongside humans, without replacing them, could point the way to something less sinister than, say, The Matrix.
We also have this sense that AI would mean "robot overlords." We don't know what a truly sentient machine would think of us. We might get a Wall-E instead of a T-1000 Terminator. Smart machines, free of our fears and greed, might look at how we are wrecking this planet's ecosystem and simply pity us.
I agree that we tend not to remember that humans are creating robots and therefore human error will inevitably lead to robot error. I also found the idea that "ignorance, lack of preparation, and fast paced change don’t create a pleasant mix when going into war" to be especially compelling. I believe that this applies not only to war, but to all aspects of society. The rate at which technology is changing is so fast that it is impossible to know how best to use it. Like Singer discusses, investing billions into developing this new technology and then using it incorrectly allows other forces to copy what works without the expenditure which puts the US at a disadvantage. I don't know what the solution is, but the current trends with technology and war are definitely concerning.
ReplyDeleteYou make an interesting point about human error and it’s adverse effects on robotic technology. However, I feel that robotics may be an outlet for humans to better explore perfection. Robots are created to follow their instruction code perfectly and therefore can perhaps be designed to make more rational decisions than humans. They will not be riddled by human emotion even when it comes to the decision of engaging in war. Therefore perhaps we will be able to start to rely on our human intelligence in creating a perfectly rational being in order to make more important decisions for us. As creepy as this may sound is not the more reliable route in making important decisions?
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