Drone advances in Ukraine have accelerated a long-anticipated technology trend that could soon bring the world’s first fully autonomous fighting robots to the battlefield, inaugurating a new age of warfare.
Fully-autonomous robots that kill without a human in the loop have been around for quite a while. They just aren’t as pervasive or visible as they could be.
The Phalanx CIWS (SEE-wiz) is an automated gun-based close-in weapon system to defend military watercraft automatically against incoming threats such as aircraft, missiles, and small boats.
The only inputs required for operation are 440 V AC three-phase electric power at 60 Hz and water (for electronics cooling).
That’s 1980.
I think that the Soviet analog also can operate without a human in the loop:
The gun mount is fully automated, and can also be remotely controlled by an operator from either the control console or via a remotely mounted gunsight.
Fully-autonomous robots that kill without a human in the loop have been around for quite a while. They just aren’t as pervasive or visible as they could be.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phalanx_CIWS
That’s 1980.
I think that the Soviet analog also can operate without a human in the loop:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AK-630
If so, that’s 1976.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIM-104_Patriot
That’s 1981.
It’s not that it’s morally corrupt, it’s that it’s just way too big risk to set these killing missions to an automated task.
But it’s also morally corrupt.