Absolutely. It's a mistake to make assumptions about what AI will be like. The doomsayers too often attribute human qualities to it. It's like speculating about alien intelligence. It will come in bits an pieces as we understand it more. My own guess is that, not weighed down by long obsolete genetic imperatives and human psychological pathologies, it will most likely be (in its higher form) an extraordinarily capable problem solver and prognosticator. It will lack the human flaws that typically motivate the killer AIs of science fiction. Of course, it will probably have it's own unique flaws. I do think it's wise to be wary of software that has developed beyond our capability to understand it (much as we don't understand the workings of our own consciousness).

Probably my primary concern about robotic weapons comes from a DARPA proposal I read about some time in the past. What they wanted was an autonomous, bird sized UAV. It would contain surveillance equipment and sensors, and be able to share the data it collects through a mesh network established with it's fellows and the commanders as well as receive orders. It would be intelligent enough to find a suitable strategic vantage point and hide itself. From there it would simply observe. With a large enough swarm of these, perhaps many thousands, you could send them into a city at night. They would each also potentially carry a small warhead allowing them to launch themselves at and destroy threats. Once these robots were entrenched, which might only take an hour or two, whoever controls them would effectively rule the city. Even if they were cut off from their command structure, they might still retain enough intelligence to recognize a particular individual, someone in a forbidden area, someone holding a weapon, or someone not brodcasting the right IFF signal, or any number of things. There might be no defense against such a thing (though there probably will be).

To me, that concept is terrifying. It's not huge hulking terminator-like war machines that could be the greatest threat, just flying, self-guiding, intelligent hand grenades. All someone would need is the capability to manufacture them. No raising an army, no speeches or threats, just a factory and a design. It's also not too far fetched to believe this capability might be available in just a matter of a few decades. They'll be easier to build than nuclear weapons, and oh so convenient and easy to deploy.

Um.... anyways, I dunno where I was going with that. Just lots of random pontificating, but because it's technology, it's silly to try to stop it with legislation. It will happen, as ChaosEngine rightly points out, the best course of action is to be on top of it and to understand it.

I admit, that was the first plausible use case I could imagine for it (aside from just being a cool thing). It could also be a good decoy. Or, if you could connect a bunch up with a mesh network, it might be useful for clearing landmine fields (that one gets you humanitarian points *and* DOD funding).

If all else fails, maybe it could herd sheep.

Yo Grimm-Have you heard anything about whacky John McAfee's secret FTS project, the Anonymous Hieronymus Box??
Wireless mesh network-type stuff, wave of the future of privacy??

winkler1 gives us a follow up post:
http://blog.videosift.com/winkler1/Mesh-Networking-and-Global-Warming

I watched the talk and appreciated the rundown on Zipcar, but without any background information Robin Chase's call for road tolls was a huge stretch.

I see no way in which road tolls are a critical app for mesh networks. Cars tapping into a citywide wireless internet? Sure, but not the other way around.

Many problems spring to mind:
1) People don't want to have their location monitored at all times.
2) You don't need WiMax speeds to handle payment data.
3) Try getting the public, politicians, and automakers to agree on this. Get back to me in 25 years.
4) Who wants wireless internet if it's powered by innefficient gasoline engines?
5) The idea of taking a public good (like roads) and converting it into a private good (by way of road taxes) could have a huge effect on where new roads are built and whether old roads are maintained.

I'll end my rant with an unrelated but valuable article:
My Other Car is a Bright Green City

Tags for this video have been changed from 'global warming, zipcar, oil, cars, ted' to 'global warming, zipcar, oil, cars, ted, market prices, mesh network, wifi' - edited by winkler1

It's hard for me to believe that anyone would trashtalk this fantastic project. It has the potential to fundamentally change people's lives. From what I understand, the program includes providing wireless internet access with the laptops, and their mesh network allows them to transfer data via other laptops even if they are out of direct range.

For those who want to have one, or contribute, there is a "Give One, Get One" promotion happening until the end of this month, in which you buy two and donate one or both. All of this is being done not for profit.

The laptop uses a Linux operating system with lots of useful software built in. That's another thing that is great, it's entirely open source, so their development is open-ended and expandable.

And what has been happening so far with these machines, apparently, is that kids with no prior access to computers are taking to them like fish to water within minutes, and suddenly have an entire Internet-full of knowledge at their fingertips. That can completely change their lives -- and imagine what might start happening when these groups of kids start collaborating together.

For those who want to understand the philosophy of the project, I've just submitted a video of Nicholas Negroponte introducing the OLPC project at TED Talks. He is the founder of the project, and former chairman of the MIT Media Lab.