Robot Soldiers Are Coming!

The future of combat might not involve humans, but robots! The United States Army is considering lowering brigades from 4,000 soldiers to around 3,000 soldiers, replacing these men and women with robots and other unmanned vehicles. This is not a new idea, as the army already utilizes drones, and countries like South Korea use robot guards to patrol their border with North Korea. Join Annie as she steps in to talk about the future of robotics, and how we might not be too far from having entire armies only using robots.

Read More:
South Korea Intelligent Surveillance and Guard Robot
"A demo video for South Korea's Intelligent Surveillance and Guard Robot."

US Army Studying Replacing Thousands of Grunts with Robotics
"The postwar, sequestration-era US Army is working on becoming 'a smaller, more lethal, deployable and agile force,' according to Gen. Robert Cone, head of the service's Training and Doctrine Command."

Modular Advanced Armed Robotic System
"QinetiQ developed the MAARS UGV through contracts and various agencies in the Department of Defense, including U.S. SOCOM, as well as significant company internal investment."

UN: Hold International Talks on 'Killer Robots'
"All governments should support international talks to address the threat posed by fully autonomous robotic weapons, Human Rights Watch said today."

Modular Advanced Armed Robotic System (MAARS)
"This week, a United Nations expert called for a temporary freeze on producing or using so-called 'killer robots.'"

Photo Credit © MIKE BLAKE/Reuters/Corbis

Watch More:
Rescue Robots at DARPA
TestTube Wild Card
Drones to the Rescue!

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[draggboy]

Robot armies? Great... we're all fucked. 

[UPlayNetwork]

It's definitely the future, i say it's both good and bad because only rich countries will have the ability to produce and use them =bad, while poor countries soldiers may be no match for metal in a war, and robots will probably kill indiscriminately in an area including civilians, more job losses for military is bad for the economy as well, but times are changing and people will adapt in a society policed by robots

[OverthereLook]

In the future, Global conflicts will be fought between two people and their cool RC cars.

[majorscrub]

the disadvantages too using robots for combat are.
1. people will lose jobs but you may say less people will die on the field, but more will die of poverty, because without the constant cash flow people wont be able to feed there family's or pay for there kids education, which will end up putting a bigger strain on people with jobs because taxes will be higher to pay for these people.

2. it might turn out like the terminator movie.

3. more innocent people will die in war zones because robots do not have emotions or enough judgement to say who's innocent and who isn't.

my solution too these problems would be too make these robots be controlled by humans from inside a safe facility far enough away so they don't captured or killed. this will solve problem 1 because there will be jobs up for grabs, and solve problem 2 because the robots will be controlled by humans, also solving problem 3 because humans have judgment.

[fullyawakened]

I'd trust a robot cop over a human cop anyday

[drive]

Ai's get better over time as well when they go through motions of training to recognize the targets they kill

[alphacause]

I am always amazed by the the ingenuity of humanity. It is sad, however, that much of that innovative spirit is devoted towards the enterprise of war. One of the major deterrents to our population accepting warfare is watching our men and women come back in body bags or observing them endure major physical and psychological trauma. The problem with robots replacing actual soldiers is that when the technology becomes so good that most infantry can be replaced, our population will be more compliant with the wars that the defense industry and government wish to fight. Bloodshed will still occur, but it will occur on the opposing side, which as we have seen as of late, are far poorer than we are, and therefore will have to use real flesh and blood humans to fight, as opposed to expensive robots. Since, our country doesn't seem to be as moved by the death, maiming, and psychological toll of the other side, it is more likely, as technology allows us to detach ourselves from war, that we become more willing to partake in it. Technology will work to undermine the very empathy that we need to resist war efforts. 

[williamfoster]

haha i had a join the army ad play before this video 

[thombg]

Too bad, I always hoped that the future of combat would be in books.

[aeolisticwill]

Robotic soldiers are inevitable and here are a few reasons why.

They're not concerned with personal safety. This gives them the freedom to wait and be sure someone is an enemy combatant and take extreme risk to capture and not kill.  

They don’t kill to avenge their fallen robot comrades. Understandably, seeing your buddies killed can and does blur the line between combatants and noncombatants.

They don't require supply lines. The military necessarily expends enormous resources in supplying and maintaining food and water for its soldiers.  

They can be abandoned. The never leaving a man behind policy is a great way to reassure soldiers they, well, won't be left behind, but the cost can be enormous and can even extend long after the war is over. 

They are not limited to human form. This one fact opens almost limitless possibilities, if your imagination is even partially intact you should be able to think of hundred ways this could be utilized in ways impossible for human soldiers. 

Hopefully, they are developed in a way that makes human beings dying in war a rare occurrence. And since it won't be possible for humans to successfully fight them on the battlefield, they won't try, and setting them against will be realized to be as pointless as two countries trying to knock each others block off.

[LNGBW]

Bad idea. we shouldn't send robots to war.
 
We should send politicians.

[imatofumaster]

I feel that Robots replacing infantry, though it would save the lives of troops, would reduce the cost of war, and therefore reduce its significance. War shows that a country is willing to send to many young men and women to both kill and die for a cause. Drone conflict, on the other hand, is simply sending machines to destroy humans or other machines. It would be much easier for a politician to declare war, and to have his country's backing if our children are not the ones fighting and dying. I am not saying that I'm not saying that the lives of our troops are expendable, but if a country is willing to declare war, and potentially destroy the lives of millions in another country, it must be willing to pay the price. What will happen to world peace if a country can declare war without consequence?

[jonasnee]

i think its a good idea, it takes the grim and dark things away from war and might help people to appriciate some of the more noble reasons behind the wars that get thought whitout having to think over how many soldiers die.

[gabriel]

The idea of having robot soldiers is okay because then less soldiers would die out in the field.

[GamezforNoobz]

Soldier will never be replaced, Can't be hacked. We will fight beside robots one day but they will never replace human soldiers.

[boglenight]

So not only are we kicking people out of jobs, we are trying to develop robots that can kill people.... anyone else see how terrible the world is getting?

[MercyShotties]

Future Unmanned Combat Killing System? F.U.C.K.S I'll let you have that one army :) 

[Scaevola]

1. Create an actual A.I.
2. Put in only the 1st and 3rd Asimov Laws of Robotics to keep free will
3. Let it develop free will without the danger
4. Profit from knowlenge it provides

[TarriPup]

Can't we just fund space technology instead of military technology? Just imagine how much advancements we can make if we switch the two budgets around...

And instead of building machines to end lives, why not focus on machines that can prolong lives? I'm pro for that.

[goforth]

I like the idea because it means there will be less soldiers that die in battle. But what about the civilians that get caught in the cross fire? Would a robot really know who to spare and who to kill? I highly doubt that.