depressing but very interesting

What is it with people who are called by their initials? It annoys me

That remark about the drone pilot who does a shift, kills people, then goes home to the family and kids was disturbing.

People are warmongerers and we like killing each other. What happens to the nature of war is gradual change, gradual application of technology so that you can't go to war without a laptop and a gun. Given that I find it hard to see governments considering what these programmes mean for society. I don't know that he had a call to action, more a reminder that things are going to keep getting worse.

I want to slap this guy. He goes on and on about robots being emotionless, but completely fails to mention that we have NO combat robots that are autonomous.
And then with the slide show - He's showing exoskeletons and all that jazz and then busts out a picture from the Braingate project. Seriously? You're comparing a technology that allows a quadriplegic to have very limited use of a computer to that of humans interfacing with combat robots?

What really made me laugh was the side-by-side of the Star Wars AT-ST and the Japanese walker mech.

First of all, you're a douche. ZOMG! Not some piece of shit "mech" that simulates walking by gliding on wheels made by some guy in his garage out of sheet metal!

Secondly, he seems to willfully neglect that these machines are NO different than a predator drone, a M1A1 Abrams tank, or a 2004 Toyota Camry.

They all require an operator.

^I'm kind of sensing that you dislike this guy, but I can't quite tell. When you say you want to slap him, is that a gesture of affection or no?

No, I don't dislike him, but he is a douche bag. He starts to make valid points, but then does something to fuck it up.

I thought it was an excellent talk.

"I want to slap this guy. He goes on and on about robots being emotionless, but completely fails to mention that we have NO combat robots that are autonomous. "

But he DID mention that the Pentagon has four projects of fully autonomous weapons.

It's *quality because it's true.

Boosting this quality contribution up in the Hot Listing - declared quality by demon_ix.

@MarineGunrock: You are a drone who requires an operator.

^ @ MG, I'm guessing you didn't really pay attention. He's not talking solely about things that are currently on the battlefield. He mentions Moore's Law, which I'm guessing you didn't hear. But Moore's Law simply states that technology will double every so many years. 60 years ago we didn't even have computers. 20 years ago the first cellular phone came out. Today, I'm sitting on a laptop that has more processing power than the entire world had 50 years ago with more storage capacity than was actually known just 200 years ago at the beginning of the scientific revolution. I carry a phone that tells me where I am to within feet, connects to the internet, downloads videos, stores a database of everything I want to know, and allows me to interface with it by touch and voice. 10 years ago I got my first cell phone . . . and can you guess what it did? Yeah, it called people. And I had to remember the numbers myself.

Singer isn't talking strictly about what is out there now. That's why he quotes the number of drones present at the beginning of this "war" and how many are currently there. Those Packbots are made by the same company that makes Roomba's. So basically, if you own a Roomba, you're a few sensors and a remote away from a Packbot. (That would be the makers comment, not my own.)

Your comment about still needing an operator . . . That is his entire thesis pretty much. When you have an operator who relies on the machine what is the possible consequence? Shooting down a civilian aircraft? Blowing up 3 civilians because their height profiles match Bin Laden? Yes, both have happened. Both times innocent people died while an "operator" controlled the machine.

Additionally, what happens when the operator has no sense of danger? They can just spray bullets into a crowd hoping to hit the bad guy? Maybe they become too easy to kill? Or maybe a group of hormone laden boys will sit around a tv screen and watch and cheer and people get blown up and get pissed off and want more carnage when their own gets injured? When you operate that Camary you pay with your life if you send it off the road or crash it into another car. If it's remote controlled, all you lose if your car and possibly kill a few others. You know, that HUGE debate over video games . . .

You may think he's a douche, but you completely missed his point because you sat there wanting to slap him instead. Kinda ironic I think, considering if you were there in person you would have listened more, but now that you're disconnected via a screen you're welcomed to wander aimlessly and make careless mistakes.

I thought TED's catch phrase was ideas worth spreading. What utter filth. Downvote

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