How will robots be used in warfare

Source: https://www.newsweek.com/could-this-humanoid-robot-become-the-armys-ultimate-warrior-11063424

By Mathew Manseau

The use of robots in war could cause even more issues than it solves, and make it meaningless by normalizing it.

Foundation is a company that specializes in creating robots named the Phantom MK-1, which can do tedious work that could keep people out of danger or make their lives easier. Although their ultimate goal is to “Build technologies that make life self-sustaining on earth and beyond” (Foundation), they will accomplish that goal by creating “fleet coherence.” Fleet coherence would allow each robot to work independently but they all function off a single shared brain instead of being fully independent; this would allow them to know everything that the other robots are doing. Foundation will also create a city on Earth from the profits they make. This will be used to start researching technology that they can use to operate on other planets and make functioning cities on those planets. Although it isn’t stated what these cities will be used for. The cities will most likely be used to make exploration easier or to make a safe environment for humans to live in.

One of the major uses of these robots, besides labor, is being able to be used for defense. It isn’t specified to what extent they will be used for defense, so in the case of a war, they may be used to fight back against people to keep them from invading the U.S.

If the Phantom MK-1 can harm people in case of war, then the lives of people will be viewed as insignificant; being able to deploy hundreds of robots on an area to murder humans will do nothing but disconnect everyone from the severity of war. When people are sent to war, they are trained to kill. Going through with those actions causes lifetime trauma and mental struggles. People who go to war are living through a hell on Earth, with Ukraine already ‘gamifying’ drone strikes with a point system that encourages people to try and get the highest score (Shuster, Simon). This further reduces the opposing side to nothing but a threat that can be removed simply by having these robots go out and murder people without any physical or emotional backfire. If somehow another country decides to have their own robots go against ours, then that would be ideal, but still take away the impact of having a war by taking out any form of real conflict between humans, there is no reason to stop as long as both sides can produce their robots, there will be no end to the war unless they resort to nukes.

The Phantom MK-1 is currently being tested by surveying and protecting soldiers in Ukraine. Some of these are being able to be used as a magnifying glass on legs, clearing debris, and placing explosives on doors to keep soldiers clear of the impact. Although they are able and intended to carry any firearm humans can use, but they aren’t being used to kill, they are still being tested and controlled remotely. 

Works Cited: Shuster, Simon. “How Ukraine Gamified Drone Warfare.” https://time.com/7319847/7319847/ 

Foundation foundation.bot/master-plan.