Re:The Pros And Cons of Robots

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The Pros And Cons of Robots

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There has been some discussion of the trend towards the "robot" battlefield. My purpose with this thread is to discuss the pros and cons of such a move on several levels, from their practicality to their ethical and perhaps societal impact.

First, we need to all understand and agree that the machines in use and in testing are not "robots", but rather unmanned, remotely operated machines. There is a big difference. With that in mind, here are my immediate thoughts and opinions:

1. We seem perhaps overly concerned about comabt deaths in our present society.

Pro: Regardless of why we are so concerned, robotic devices would certainly lessen the death toll.

Con: Removing any negative impact gives an undeserved moral approval to warfare. "Why not invade? It won't cost us anything?" We as individuals and as citizens of our nation need to be aware of the true cost of such actions.

2. Robots perform better than people on today's battlefields.

Pro: Robots can certainly do some things that humans cannot, suc as long-loiter aerial recon missions, ground surveillance under adverse light and weather conditions, bomb disposal, more rapid movement, etc.

Con: A remotely operated vehicle is merely an extension of a human operator, a combination that will never match the intuitive ability of a trained human on-site. In fact, such remoteness may "take the edge" of the situation and give the operator a false impression, and although machines can utilize sensors far more capable than the human eye, nothing beats human intuition when surveying a scene, or matches human peripheral vision.

3. Robots have better survivability.

Pros: A real plus if true.

Con: Personally, I don't believe it. The UAV's used for reconaissance and missile firings do well because they fly unapposed. I seriously doubt their ability to survive a firefight, particularly given the lag between "pilot" and vehicle. The robotic fighting units I have seen have serious weaknesses and drawbacks, such as vision systems, lack of adequate armor, limited-to-no true peripheral vision and inability to go where humans can go.

A small tracked vehicle which carries a machine gun seems ideal for reconning a built-up area, but the TV sensors are very vulnerable to small arms fire or grenades, as is the vehicle itself. further, a human can dive over a wall, climb through a window or up onto a roof and a host of other evasive moves not available to robots, and enemies on upper stories and roofs would pose an extreme danger to low-on-the-ground robot combat units.

The only robotic vehicle than can fight and perform as an MBT is an MBT. Anything less is a target.

4. Robot fighters and bombers are the Air Force dream of the future.

Pros: The Air Force would love to fly over enemy territory without the risk of losing a crewman.

Unmanned aircraft can perform far outside the 8-9 G erformance envelope that limits manned aircraft.

Cons: The true test of remote combat aircraft will have to take place in an intensive hostile ECM environment filled withostile fighters and missiles. The manueverability of such aircraft will likely be more than offset by the lack of situational awareness of the remote operator and the difficulty of maintaining a viable radio link. More aircraft might be lost because remote operators have no feel for the aircraft and must rely on warning instuments and idiot lights to assess damage, perhaps not reacting to a critical or impending systems failure until too late.

Care must be taken not to put all operators in a central location, thus making a fleet of bombers or squadrons of fighters vulnerable by knocking out the command center.

Invulnerability Syndrome: Becaue it isn't really "you", operators may feel that they are invulnerable, thus needlessly incurring losses of expensive equipment.

5. Robots eliminate worries about POW's, especially female ones.

Pros: true.

Cons: consider the loss of technology when such a sophisticated device is recovered, and they will be recovered.

My final thought for the moment is that to much distancing and disassociation from the realities of war can easily lead to the danger of war becoming totally hands-off, without emotional and spiritual impact and therefore more acceptable. Destroying a city full of living people is much more significant if you do it yourself, rather than simp0ly push a button from a thousand miles away. It's a good idea to remember at all times that you are not merely destroying tanks, buildings, power stations or bunkers, but also every living thing in and around them. It keeps things from getting out of hand.

And finally, how many generals per hundred robots will the Pentagon really need?

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Pros and Cons of Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the intelligence of machines. It is about designing machines that can think. Researchers aim at introducing an emotional aspect into machines. How can it affect our lives? To know all about the pros and cons of Artificial intelligence, read on...

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Intelligence is best defined as the ability of an individual to adapt his/her behavior to new circumstances. Human intelligence is not a single ability but is rather a composition of abilities like learning, reasoning, problem solving, perception and understanding of language. Since ancient times, people have been thinking of designing machines that will replicate human intelligence. The concept of thinking machines appears in Greek myths like the ‘Talos of Crete’. John McCarthy coined the term, 'artificial intelligence' in 1956. He defines artificial intelligence as the science and engineering of making intelligent machines. AI Researchers hope to invent intelligent machines, which can perceive, learn and reason like humans. General intelligence is their long-term goal. By general intelligence they mean to incorporate other aspects like social intelligence, judgment, commonsense, robotics and self-awareness into machines. Researchers dream of bringing into machines, the capacity for wisdom and the ability to feel.

Pros of Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence finds applications in space exploration. Intelligent robots can be used to explore space. They are machines and hence have the ability to endure the hostile environments of the interplanetary space. They can be made to adapt in such a way that planetary atmospheres do not affect their physical state and functioning.

Intelligent robots can be programmed to reach the Earth’s nadirs. They can be used to dig for fuels. They can be used for mining purposes. The intelligence of machines can be harnessed for exploring the depths of oceans. These machines serve human so well especially where human intelligence has serious limitations.

Intelligent machines can replace human beings in many areas of work. Robots can do certain laborious tasks. Painstaking activities, which have long been carried out by humans can be taken over by the robots. Owing to the intelligence programmed in them, the machines can shoulder responsibility to a certain extent. They can be made to manage themselves and their time to complete the assigned tasks.

Emotions that often intercept rational thinking of a human being are not a hindrance for artificial thinkers. Lacking the emotional side, robots can think logically and take the right decisions. Sentiments are associated with moods that affect human efficiency. This is not the case with machines with artificial intelligence.

Thus artificial intelligence can be utilized in the completion of repetitive and time-consuming tasks efficiently. Intelligent machines can be employed to do certain dangerous tasks. Machines equipped with artificial intelligence can be made to thoughtfully plan towards the fulfillment of tasks and accordingly adjust their parameters such as their speed and time. They can be made to act quickly, unaffected by anything like emotion and take the tasks towards perfection.

Cons of Artificial Intelligence
The first concern regarding the application of artificial intelligence is about ethics and moral values. Is it ethically correct to create replicas of human beings? Do our moral values allow us to recreate intelligence? Intelligence is after all a gift of nature. It may not be right to install it into a machine to make it work for our benefit.

The idea of machines replacing human beings sounds wonderful. It appears to save us from all the pain. But is it really such an exciting idea? Concepts such as wholeheartedness and dedication in work bear no existence in the world of artificial intelligence.

Imagine robots working in hospitals. Do you picture them showing care and concern towards the patients? Imagine intelligent machines employed in creative fields. Do you think the robots will excel in such fields? Thinking machines lack a creative mind. Human beings are emotional intellectuals. They think and feel. Their feelings guide their thoughts.

If robots begin replacing humans in every field, it may lead to unemployment. People will be left with nothing to do. Empty time may result in its destructive use. Thinking machines will govern all the fields and populate all positions pre-occupied by people.

Apart from all these issues, there is a fear of robots superseding us! Ideally human beings should continue being the masters of machines. If things turn the other way round, the world will turn into chaos. Intelligent machines may prove to be smarter than us; they might enslave us and start ruling the world. Man’s greedy creativity may endanger mankind!

Eventually, it is up to you whether to stand by artificial intelligence or warn yourself of the likely disaster that it may lead to. In my view, there is no ideal replacement for human beings. Artificial intelligence can help alleviate the difficulties faced by man but intelligent machines can never be ‘human’.

By Manali Oak