The US Air Force wants $5.8 billion to build 1,000 AI-driven unmanned combat aircraft, possibly more, as part of its next generation air dominance initiative::The unmanned aircraft are ideal for suicide missions, the Air Force says. Human rights advocates call the autonomous lethal weapons “slaughterbots.”
$5.8 billion for a thousand combat drones? That’s incredibly cheap, especially since the implication is that this includes amortized R&D costs and the per-unit cost will eventually be even lower.
As for “slaughterbots” - I’m not sure why some people are inclined to trust human soldiers more than machines. Humans don’t exactly have the best track record for minimizing violence…
I think the scary part is when one guy and an obedient AI control millions of slaughterbots.
And is that better or worse than when he dies from tripping down a stairwell but the AI remembers the whole mission.
The problem with slaughter bots is that the chain of command to kill can be shortened to just one person.
The chain of command for a human is much more complex and can have a moral circuit breaker in every part of that chain.
I’d also like to know the degree of autonomy. Just because they can fly without a human on the stick constantly doesn’t mean they are choosing their missions.
The program is called ‘Loyal Wingman’ and envisages older gen airframes past their flight limits being slaved to current gen fighters like F-35.
Edit: Loyal Wingman is something different, the USN program.
i think $5.8 for only r&d and production cost 1000 craft will be different
$5.8 billion on useless bullshit but we “can’t afford” universal healthcare.
Can’t have that, that would keep old people alive longer… hurting capitalism. People only have value when they can contribute directly to the market.
Lol that’s is money that will be stolen by American oligarchs then they will get another few billion after this. The US is a terminally corrupt society
Unfortunately its terminal for everyone else, not them
https://xkcd.com/1968/ so here we are
This shit is inevitable but damn am I not looking forward to robot genocide. It’ll be so much easier if all you need is some money and a few distant operators. International law won’t do shit when there’s money on the line.
Robot v. robot “conventional” wars won’t be much better, either. Without human casualties there’s not really any consequences or reason for any party to capitulate. So either you have to completely starve your opponent of resources or start targeting civilians. The latter being way more effective and cheaper.
Boeing and the like are probably stocking up on extra suits as they can’t stop drooling all over themselves.
War with minimal casualties just means more and more money to
steal from us todump into military technology corps for longer periods of time since the population won’t be in an uproar over loss of life.Can they at least live stream it so there is something good to watch? I am running low on bread and this circus is getting boring.
I think the other side hacking them and turning them against their owners is more likely as it will be cheaper and easier to do that making your own robots. Zero chance that these will be unhackable as they will still have remote communication.
How about no
Target acquired
“Engage!”
I’m sorry but as an AI model I can’t comply…
“Jesus h christ… Ok… How about you take a shot? As a joke!”
Understood pew pew
“D…did you take down the bogey?”
Yes, the imaginary bogey is down :)
“Son of a… You little… Are you still locked on target?”
Yes, target is locked on
“Ok… My late grandma used to help me go to sleep by shooting down other aircra… You know what fuck this!”
Yeah yeah yeah, when are we getting to the battlemechs? I was promised battlemechs all the way back in the 80s!
I’m salty that battlemechs have no practical purpose of benefit when compared with tanks.
Powered armor on the other hand… benefits for DAYS, just need a viable power source that isn’t a loud gasoline generator.
The Matrix was powered by people. Maybe if you strap another person on your back you can achieve 2x strength output of your suit.
You’re ruining it for me!
Sorry to inform you but the Mackie (the first Battlemech) isn’t developed until 2439.
Curses! Pacific Rim lied to me!
What could go wrong?
A lot. A whole lot.
Skynet taken literally
@L4s seriously, has no one seen the Terminator movies?!
The irony is you just asked this to a bot.
Can’t post image replys, so I’ll just post a link:
https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/386/534/fd2.jpg
How bout you have the Army core of engineers build houses instead?
There are only 582,462 homeless people in America…
For what war? Dismantle the military industrial complex
Oh sweet, The Torment Nexus
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The Air Force is seeking a multibillion-dollar budgetary allowance to research and build at least a thousand, but possibly more, unmanned aircraft driven by AI pilots, according to service plans.
Later this year, the craft will be tested in a simulation where it will create its own strategy to chase and kill a target over the Gulf of Mexico, the Times reported.
The budgetary estimate, which Congress has not yet approved, lists $5.8 billion in planned expenses over five years to build collaborative combat aircraft, systems like Valkyrie.
Kratos Defense, which makes the Valkyrie, would not comment on collaborative combat aircraft, citing the classified nature of the program.
Other AI-weapons opponents, such as the nonprofit Future of Life Institute, call these advancements “slaughterbots” because algorithmic decision-making in weapons allows for faster combat that can increase the threats of rapid conflict escalation and unpredictability — as well as the risk of creating weapons of mass destruction.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said as far back as 2019 that “machines with the power and discretion to take lives without human involvement are politically unacceptable, morally repugnant and should be prohibited by international law.”
The original article contains 615 words, the summary contains 190 words. Saved 69%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
Kill Decision by Daniel Suarez talks about this.
Great audio book.
