Thursday, February 28, 2008

Skynet Watch


"Listen. And understand. That terminator is out there. It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead..."
— Kyle Reese
Terminator, 1994


This from Drudge yesterday:
Automated killer robots 'threat to humanity': expert

Increasingly autonomous, gun-totting robots developed for warfare could easily fall into the hands of terrorists and may one day unleash a robot arms race, a top expert on artificial intelligence told AFP.

"They pose a threat to humanity," said University of Sheffield professor Noel Sharkey ahead of a keynote address Wednesday before Britain's Royal United Services Institute.

Intelligent machines deployed on battlefields around the world -- from mobile grenade launchers to rocket-firing drones -- can already identify and lock onto targets without human help.

There are more than 4,000 US military robots on the ground in Iraq, as well as unmanned aircraft that have clocked hundreds of thousands of flight hours.

The first three armed combat robots fitted with large-caliber machine guns deployed to Iraq last summer, manufactured by US arms maker Foster-Miller, proved so successful that 80 more are on order, said Sharkey.

But up to now, a human hand has always been required to push the button or pull the trigger.

It we are not careful, he said, that could change.
As it happens, I was in Queenstown on the South Island of New Zealand on August 29, 1997, the day (according to the Terminator movie timeline) the military Skynet system became self-aware and launched its nuclear war of annihilation against humanity. During dinner with a bunch of crazed Aussies, I made a toast to John Connor, leader of the Resistance. American movies being the only true worldwide mythology, the Aussies hooted and hollared...then one said, "This'd be the place to ride out the war, wouldn't it?"

I've been really impressed with Fox's TERMINATOR — The Sarah Connor Chronicles, the television extension of the movie franchise. The sublime Lena Headley is practically channeling Linda Hamilton, right down to the mechanical pull-ups, and Summer Glau — River, from the much-lamented Firefly series — is hands down the spookiest chick on television.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Uhhh, what was now? Hmm. Never mind.

I'll be back!

Anonymous said...

I'm not worried. We don't have Sarah Conner, but we have Kitiara.

Read her LJ if you have any doubts.


Trebor

Unknown said...

http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/02/army-gets-more.html

More spooky robots with heaters

Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh! The future is now and I'm unprepared!

Anonymous said...

This series too, like the great Firefly will die an ignoble death.

FOX is good a killing popular series.

I have not watched the Terminator series because of constant time and date cahages an over rides. Count it out soon due to the FOX ineptitude.

Anonymous said...

Love the show... which means it will be cancelled.

Anonymous said...

Sorry, human, your emotional statements do not registers with my systems.

Bob Anderson said...

Don't you mean that the Kiwi's hooted ad hollered.

Anonymous said...

(putting on tin foil hat)

The Achilles Tendon of any robot army (actually any modern army, currently) is going to be electro magnetic pulse, EMP.

Supposedly, anything that's "solid state" gets its circuitry fried when it is hit with an EMP pulse.

Also, supposedly, the earth will be bombarded in as few as two years with another massive magnetic storm from the sun. They happen on cycles. I can't remember now if it is every 9 years or what.

The last one did take out a power grid or two in Canada. How many people were without power for how long, I have no idea.

If the next one comes right in the dead of winter, during a blizzard, several hundreds of people could freeze to death in their homes.

Getting back to EMP as a weapon, supposedly, the EF-111's produced enough jamming power to knock out square miles of power grids. I think the same technology could be applied to a robot...err... terminator army.

Anyway... this magnetic storm and EMP in general has me antsey enough, that I'm not real interested in buying a red dot scope for the AR or making a full on USPSA Open race gun with a C-more.

One of these days, I'll will have scraped enough pennies together to buy an EMP-proof ACOG, ya know, for when the zombies attack.

LOL!

(tin foil mode off)

Anonymous said...

River might be spooky, but she's HOT! It's a great show, but sci-fi isn't as popular as it was. So it mught not make it.

Anonymous said...

Shouldn't the quote be from 1984?

A very good show, though.

Anonymous said...

the Sarah Conner is a great show...
bad Sarah as the poster shows.. only place the finger on the trigger if you plan on firing it

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palmcop said...

It can't work in actual fact, that's what I think.

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