Combat Robots

FICTION:

In the 1986 film Short Circuit, Johnny 5 was a robot programmed for military use who, after being struck by lightning, achieved sentience. The movie then follows his interactions with humans and his continuous quest for “more input.”

Despite the silly premise, this film correctly predicted probably the most obvious use of robotics – combat.

 
 


 
FACT:

Real battlefield robots are much more intimidating than Johnny 5 could ever have hoped to be, and are currently operated via remote control. So while they are in use, they aren’t quite as sophisticated as the robots depicted in the movie.

However, intelligent robots capable of making the decision to kill on their own are apparently in the works, prompting worries about Terminator-like killing machines that make no distinction between soldiers and civilians. And even if sophisticated software is created to handle these decisions ethically, there’s always the problem of hackers.


 
 
 
 Sounds like time for a little reading…

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
LEARN MORE:

• Battlefield Robots Leap from Science Fiction to Reality
• Rise of the machine: Terminator-style robot war ‘could be a reality within 10 years’
• Armed Robots go to War in Iraq