Robotic warfare is going to change the world in some unforeseen ways. I specifically found PW Slinger’s 18 minutes on TED to one of the most interesting and shocking videos I’ve ever seen . First of all, I had no idea the direction that warfare was going in. I knew that we used some robotics but I figured it was limited to a handful of drones here and there. Slinger mentions that we have somewhere near 5,000 operating drones in the war today. The complications of these robotic war tools goes deeper than I ever suspected.
One specific aspect of this robotic warfare that I find incredibly wrong is that there are people in Nevada controlling drones in the Middle East. Slinger mentions that a person simply “goes” to war for the day, as in it’s like a regular work shift. I don’t understand how someone can go to “work,” have the potential to remotely kill a number of people, then come home and talk about their children’s homework over dinner. I still find it hard to believe that this is actually going on right now. How does someone mentally balance this? Slinger says that these soldiers often have more difficulties, mentally, than those that are on the warfront.
While there are likely many complications associated with this new type of warfare, I believe the above scenario leads to one of the largest issues. I’m not a soldier nor have I ever been close to a war or in a scenario that is really all that dangerous, but I have to believe that fighting a war outside of the warfront has to cause some lapses in judgment as well as appreciation for what’s really happening. I feel like if I shot a rocket at a building and killed ten people through the eyes of a camera I would not appreciate the level bloodshed that I had just committed. Experiencing something first hand is nothing like experiencing it through a screen. It’s like when you see something such as the Great Wall of China on a screen or in pictures you think okay that’s nice. But when you actually go to the wall and walk on it, the experience is incomparable.
This leads me to think about what happens if or when this type of warfare becomes routine. What happens when most of the combat is done behind the safety of a computer display? All those barriers will surely affect our decisions in combat. I feel that it will be easier for people to kill people, not only physically but also mentally. Unfortunately I don’t think we can really say what will happen when this type of combat is common place. Just as slinger mentions in his video, I agree that we are on the verge of some major changes in how war is fought. I truly believe things will definitely get interesting and more terrifying as robotic warfare advances.
Source:
One specific aspect of this robotic warfare that I find incredibly wrong is that there are people in Nevada controlling drones in the Middle East. Slinger mentions that a person simply “goes” to war for the day, as in it’s like a regular work shift. I don’t understand how someone can go to “work,” have the potential to remotely kill a number of people, then come home and talk about their children’s homework over dinner. I still find it hard to believe that this is actually going on right now. How does someone mentally balance this? Slinger says that these soldiers often have more difficulties, mentally, than those that are on the warfront.
While there are likely many complications associated with this new type of warfare, I believe the above scenario leads to one of the largest issues. I’m not a soldier nor have I ever been close to a war or in a scenario that is really all that dangerous, but I have to believe that fighting a war outside of the warfront has to cause some lapses in judgment as well as appreciation for what’s really happening. I feel like if I shot a rocket at a building and killed ten people through the eyes of a camera I would not appreciate the level bloodshed that I had just committed. Experiencing something first hand is nothing like experiencing it through a screen. It’s like when you see something such as the Great Wall of China on a screen or in pictures you think okay that’s nice. But when you actually go to the wall and walk on it, the experience is incomparable.
This leads me to think about what happens if or when this type of warfare becomes routine. What happens when most of the combat is done behind the safety of a computer display? All those barriers will surely affect our decisions in combat. I feel that it will be easier for people to kill people, not only physically but also mentally. Unfortunately I don’t think we can really say what will happen when this type of combat is common place. Just as slinger mentions in his video, I agree that we are on the verge of some major changes in how war is fought. I truly believe things will definitely get interesting and more terrifying as robotic warfare advances.
Source:
Slinger, PW, perf. PW Singer on military robots and the future of war. TED Talks, 2009. Web. 29 Apr 2012. <http://www.ted.com/talks/pw_singer_on_robots_of_war.html>.
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