The First Variety

The U. S. military has recently deployed the first armed robots in Iraq:

The SWORDS — modified versions of bomb-disposal robots used throughout Iraq — were first declared ready for duty back in 2004. But concerns about safety kept the robots from being sent over the the battlefield. The machines had a tendency to spin out of control from time to time. That was an annoyance during ordnance-handling missions; no one wanted to contemplate the consequences during a firefight.

So the radio-controlled robots were retooled, for greater safety. In the past, weak signals would keep the robots from getting orders for as much as eight seconds — a significant lag during combat. Now, the SWORDS won’t act on a command, unless it’s received right away. A three-part arming process — with both physical and electronic safeties — is required before firing. Most importantly, the machines now come with kill switches, in case there’s any odd behavior. “So now we can kill the unit if it goes crazy,” Zecca says.

The arguments in favor of using such devices are obvious and many: spares live soldiers for other chores, politically less sensitive, possibly logistically easier to maintain in hostile territory than human beings. It does make me uneasy, though. I wonder if there aren’t some tasks that shouldn’t be delegated to machines.