Radio Free Kirkopolis

Yesterday I came across an article about the Grand Challenge. It’s a pretty cool race of un-manned vehicles across the Mojave Desert, and not by remote control but by the vehicles navigating themselves.

The unmanned vehicles must use their computer brains and sensing devices to follow a programmed route and avoid hitting obstacles that may doom their chances.

Pretty cool huh?

The so-called Grand Challenge race is part of the Pentagon's effort to cut the risk of casualties by fulfilling a congressional mandate to have a third of all military ground vehicles unmanned by 2015.

Even cooler. But just ‘cause there’s a congressional mandate doesn’t mean that it’s actually going to happen right? After all, when’s the last time you used the metric system? Right?
Well-

The military currently has a small fleet of autonomous ground vehicles stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan, but the machines are remotely controlled by a soldier who usually rides in the same convoy. The Pentagon wants to eliminate the human factor and use self-thinking robotic vehicles to ferry supplies in war zones.

Is it just me or is this a little too “Terminator, Rise of the Machines.”
I’m glad that we’re trying to save lives and all, but it just leaves me a little uneasy knowing that our fighting may be done by thoughtless automatons that will follow orders with no conscious, just orders (aside from the Marines that is). I just wonder where the fail-safes will be. I sure hope we’re not jumping into anything here.
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