Killer Robots

 I wanted to refer to a particular robot as an android the other day, but I didn't - because of potential confusion in the reader with a slew of mobile phone technology, as the word is now synonomous with open o.s. on cellphones which are not made by a certain company.
Android is often used in place of 'robot'.
The word 'robot' was first used in the play R.U.R. in 1921 by Czech writer Karel Capek.

Robot rebellion in a production of Rossums Universal Robots

The three laws of robotics were created in 1942 by sci-fi author Isaac Asimov, and
they basically laid a foundation for peaceful interaction between robots and humans,
but now we have phrases which are almost duplicitous, and don't tell us the reality : for instance a new phrase is Lethal Autonomous Weapons System , referring to robot soldiers in battle.

For a second I thought I was living in a blockbuster Hollywood sci - fi , in which the phrase "I'll be back" assumes global significance.
But it's real.
Killer robots are real. 

Well, real enough to lead to a series of ongoing ethical debates and even a campaign.
The debate hinges on whether robots should ignore the 'prime directive' and be allowed to kill humans at all.
The question is a deeply moral one,  affecting the issue of free will / artificial intelligence.
Let me take a step back :

We are actually debating whether we should allow robots which we have created, to kill us.

One of the most frightening questions posed in a multitude of  fictions is suddenly real.
The only good thing is - hey, it's a first world problem- no battlefield here !
Phew, huh ?

We've all heard of and gotten used to the idea of drones being used in battle zones as delivery systems for death.
You could almost say that we're blasé about them.
Drones allegedly first came into use during the war in the Balkans, but have since been used in Iraq, Afghanistan, and to a lesser degree, Pakistan.
They're always somewhere over there, far away.
Which makes it somehow removed;
abstract even
But no less true:
Battles are being waged quietly
and death is being delivered
By silent little drones with lethal cargos.

                                 

Image of Mars (blue areas are sand dunes apparently)

The flipside of that coin is the image I saw the other day (included here), which resonated deeply in a similar but good way - the photo taken by the Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter of  the rover 'Curiosity' on  the lower slopes of Mount Sharp.

Slightly enlarged view- the blob in the square is Curiosity

Whilst not a stunning image, it is immensely powerful - a photograph taken by a  man - made satellite of a man-made robotic explorer , examining a planet where no human has ever set foot.

That blew my tiny mind.
The future is now.
It's truly amazing what we can achieve.
Let's just ease off on the death thing, right ?





p.s. photos used are property of ESA and the RUR photo, unsure of provenance. Educational purposes...