If you guessed the “or” would lead to Economics for Mechanical Men; congratulations, you are getting some
sense of the way my brain works. Now don’t
you wish you had stopped reading this drivel after the first post way back in
February of 2013? But I digress.
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| Stephen Hawking |
If you follow the news, then you were most probably exposed
to the story; “more than 1,000 tech experts, scientists and researchers (a
rather broad category… I wonder if these esteemed thinkers are the same ones
who have been driving up my cost of living in the name of green energy) have
written a letter warning about the dangers of autonomous weapons.” I am not sure to whom this letter is
addressed. Some of the most noteworthy
participants were Elon Musk (founder of SpaceX and Tesla Electric Automobiles),
Steve Wozniak (surviving member of the duo who created Apple Computer), and world
renown physicist Stephen Hawking (whom, I am almost convinced at this stage of
his existence may be more mechanical than human… oh, c’mon, anybody who does
voiceovers with a speech synthesizer for The
Simpsons has got to have a sense of humor about his own lot in life). Perhaps I’m missing something, but it seems
these go-getters should more properly be the recipients of letters warning
about the run-away locomotive that is modern technology rather than the
authors. I know I don’t have the
technological savvy to build a killer robot in my garage.
But apparently, these forward thinkers believe it would be
poor judgment on mankind’s part to create military hardware that was self aware
and capable of learning through the trial and error process. Artificial intelligence, they say, should not
be bestowed upon the physically invincible.
Although I’m not sure military hardware has ever even approached
invincibility. Have you seen the
pictures of all the ruined combat vehicles littering the streets of the Middle
East? Standard maintenance alone
accounts for more of the systems’ time and costs than does operational
service. And that does not include cost
for repair from material failure and battle damage.
But if you really do have night sweats over the possibility
that a weapons system resembling a Doberman Pincer with no head is going to
attack you without warning, then I have a suggestion or two.
Don’t give them any more capacity for decision making than a
Marine PFC. I do not wish to cast
aspersions on the efficacy of the United States Marine Corps to successfully
wage ware. Their record and reputation speak for themselves. But
one of the foundational principles of Marine Recruit training is to break down
the individual’s penchant for analysis and decision making so that he will
follow without question the orders of his superiors. Solution:
Don’t let the autonomous weapons systems advance to the ranks of the
NCOs. Nobody wants to deal with all of
the hydraulic fluid stains on the carpets at the NCO clubs anyway.
The common thread underlying all mobility is energy. Unlike humans, robots cannot ingest carbon
based calorie resources (food… do I
have to explain all of this in detail?), rather they will be dependent upon
humans to provide fuel. Yes, just like
our cars. They will only go as far as
the allotment of fuel (or battery charge) we allow them will support. As technology has advanced, the duration of
actual combat engagements has been reduced.
There is no need to apply an independent, endless energy source. Don’t put solar panels on them. We are most likely going to fight our future
wars in the Middle East or Russia so there will be plenty of oil available
anyway. Solution: Let’s keep our
automated war fighters on a diet of fossil fuels. That way, purchasers of Mr. Musk’s wonder car
will not suffer a shortage of solar silicon chips for the ubiquitous electric
vehicle recharging stations they need to power their Teslas. Going
to be!
Now, if
these suggestions haven’t allayed your fears that metal crunching, pavement
pulverizing robotic battle bots are going to come into your neighborhood and upset
your daily routine, then consider this. We as a race (or species, whatever it is) have
survived ice ages, tectonic activity (earthquakes, for the third graders out
there), sweeping forest fires, flood, drought and famine, all of which occur
with no great amount of reasonable predictability, for two hundred thousand
years, doesn’t it stand to reason we can survive a mechanized Armageddon at the
hands of transformers? For at least
10,000 years? See last week’s blog (Whew is it Hot! conveniently located
below) to understand this reference.
I believe the deadline for nominations for next year’s Nobel
prizes, either Peace or Economics, are looming, so don’t miss your chance to
nominate your favorite pundit, me, before the clock runs out. Thank you.
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