Breathless headlines about “the Air Force AI drone killed its human operator so it could score more kills” do not illuminate anything.
The simulated Air Force drone simulated killing its human operator in a simulation so it could score more simulated kills.
The distinction between a "thought experiment" and a "simulation" is fuzzy, and we can argue about how important the differences between the second and third versions of the story are.
But the first version of the story, where an actual drone supposedly turned around and deliberately killed a US warfighter, goes well beyond credulity. If something like that happened, it would be HUGE, with congressional-level investigations over many months, not something casually mentioned at some conference.
"the first version of the story, where an actual drone supposedly turned around and deliberately killed a US warfighter, goes well beyond credulity. If something like that happened, it would be HUGE,"
I agree, but then again it wouldn't be the first U.S. military drone to kill a U.S. citizen in cold blood. What does it matter to the victim if a robot or human pressed the fire button?
The military industrial complex behind the violence is the same either way.
The "rogue unmanned military drone" trope really only scares people who aren't already targets of the manned military drones...
A hellfire missile is a hellfire missile all the same no matter who or what fires it.
Is there much difference between a human operator huddled in a shipping crate in Nevada, mistaking a wedding in Afghanistan (in a vastly different culture) for a military gathering and killing 40 people.... and an autonomous killer robot drone?
@Alonealastalovedalongthe I'm not sure what your point is. All military weapons are designed to harm their targets. That's what they *do*. We can argue about whether that's ever moral, but it's not a surprising thing about weapons.
But a weapon that goes off on its own and kills its own side is fundamentally different. No one wants that, even people who like weapons.
"But a weapon that goes off on its own and kills..."
You mean like the Iraq war?
Or the Vietnam war and all the bombs dropped on Laos that we weren't even at war with?
Or all the unaccountable predator drone attacks all across the world in shadow wars U.S. voters never authorized since 9/11?
You only think there is a difference between these two things because you assume implicitly that the autonomous murder device I am describing won't target you.
@Alonealastalovedalongthe It sounds like you're looking for any excuse to go off an lecture random people.
Find someone else, please.
Matt Blaze
Alonealastalovedalongthe