Anyone following the US ‘War on Terror’ will probably be aware that America is increasingly using drones – unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) – to carry out airstrikes. They may also be aware that remote-controlled robots are being used for the purposes of bomb disposal in places such as Iraq. The growing use of unmanned platforms naturally begs the question of whether nation-states will one day field armies of robots. Fortunately, a 2009 book, Wired For War: The Robotics Revolution And Conflict In The 21^st Century, provides many of the answers, and frankly, they are often unsettling.

Much of the book is an in-depth look at the development and use of UAVs, including unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs), remote-controlled ground vehicles, and even potentially unmanned sea craft and submarines. Naturally, the whole point of these machines is to minimise the risks to soldiers in war time. After all, aside from the financial costs, who cares if a drone is shot down or a bomb disposal robot is blown up? UCAVs also have the advantage of being able to carry out much tighter manoeuvres than planes piloted by humans. Leading the way in the development of such warriors is the United States’ Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). However, as author P.W. Singer points out in the latest Newsweek magazine, other countries are also developing drones.

From my own point of view, the most interesting aspects of the increased use of robots in war are the social and political ones, and Singer raises a lot of big questions. For example:

• Will the US be more likely to go to war once it can do so with minimal fear of casualties, thanks to the use of robots?

• What impact would the use of robots have on perceptions of the US military abroad? For example, the US could seem cowardly, while human insurgents could gain worldwide support in what they would portray as mankind fighting against big ugly machines.

• What would be the psychological impact on UCAV pilots, who go to war from a safe distance of several thousand miles in the daytime, then return home to their families after work?

• Could such soldiers claim to have gone to war, and what gulf might open between remote warriors and troops on the ground?

• What are the legal ramifications of robot warfare, and who would be blamed for civilian casualties? Would it be the robot designers, programmers, manufacturers, pilots, or even the robots themselves?

• Will there be a backlash against robots, mirroring the 19^th century Luddite movement?

• How will society react to cybernetic implants, which blur the lines between man and machine?

But perhaps the biggest question is whether the robots may some day turn against their creators. The man who popularised the term ‘robot’, Czech playwright Karel Capek, depicted a robot rebellion as far back as 1921, and science fiction has featured rebellious machines in 2001: A Space Odyssey, Bladerunner, the four Terminator films, and the US TV drama Battlestar Galactica.

Four Conditions For A Robot Rebellion

For a robot rebellion, Singer says that four conditions would have to be met:

• The machines would have to be able to independently fuel, repair, and reproduce themselves.

• They would have to become more intelligent than humans.

• They would need to develop a survival instinct and will to control their environment.

• Humans would have to lose the ability to control or override the machines.

Thankfully, none of the above appears to be imminent.

Overall, this is a fascinating book, and suggests to me that countries which develop robot technology (e.g. Japan) could gain a significant strategic and economic advantage in the coming decades. One shortcoming of this book is that because it is military-centric, there is not much discussion of how the civilian realm could be transformed by robotics. These changes may eventually be bigger than the military aspects. Nonetheless, this book is essential reading for anyone remotely interested in robotics and the future of conflict.

Wired For War: The Robotics Revolution And Conflict In The 21st Century, by P.W.Singer. Published By Penguin Press. ISBN 978-1-59420-198-1