Use of Weapons
May. 8th, 2007 12:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sharplittleteethVia blithespirit:
Bots on The Ground: In the Field of Battle (Or Even Above It), Robots Are a Soldier's Best Friend
It's a Washington Post article about the emotional bonds US troops are forming with the robots that are serving with them in Iraq. They're not just naming their bots, they're promoting them and awarding them medals.
There are some quotes from Rodney Brooks. Brooks used to be a hero of mine. While most AI researchers were focused on symbolic processing, he was more interested in duplicating cockroaches. He wrote a paper called Fast, Cheap and Out of Control that advocated exploring other planers with swarms of little bug-like robots, rather than a single wheeled explorer. Now he works with the company iRobot, that makes two types of robots: domestic cleaners, and military ones.
I'll admit, I'm conflicted about this.
On the one hand, this is all part of military-industrial complex.
On the other, these bots are sweet.
Bots on The Ground: In the Field of Battle (Or Even Above It), Robots Are a Soldier's Best Friend
It's a Washington Post article about the emotional bonds US troops are forming with the robots that are serving with them in Iraq. They're not just naming their bots, they're promoting them and awarding them medals.
There are some quotes from Rodney Brooks. Brooks used to be a hero of mine. While most AI researchers were focused on symbolic processing, he was more interested in duplicating cockroaches. He wrote a paper called Fast, Cheap and Out of Control that advocated exploring other planers with swarms of little bug-like robots, rather than a single wheeled explorer. Now he works with the company iRobot, that makes two types of robots: domestic cleaners, and military ones.
I'll admit, I'm conflicted about this.
On the one hand, this is all part of military-industrial complex.
On the other, these bots are sweet.
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no subject
Date: 2007-05-08 08:37 am (UTC)I know I'm a soppy git but... that article made me cry! :( It was the bit about the controller dude groping for the ejector lever on his chair that got me. I have no idea why.
no subject
Date: 2007-05-09 03:28 am (UTC)The image of the insect-like minesweeper robot dragging itself along on its remaining limb affected me oddly, just before i read about the officer in charge having the same uneasiness.
no subject
Date: 2007-05-09 04:11 am (UTC)Yeah, that's a pretty affecting image, that one. And I like the idea of seasoned military man declaring it "inhumane". :) Still don't know why that lever-groping got to me the way it did though...