Murderous machines to be the next big thing

In an article about artificial intelligence -- and Google's intention to develop and use this capability -- there is a particularly chilling note.

The authors speak about the ways the United States currently kills enemies by using drones. That's bad enough but it's about to get much, much nastier:

"Right now everything we have is remotely controlled and there's always a human in the loop," Akerson says. "We're heading in the direction to give the decision to kill to an algorithm."

That's right. The plan is to unleash murderous drones that don't need humans to push an actual kill switch. They'll be able to do it all by themselves.

Oh, brave new world that has no people in it. Scary stuff.

The fate of guns

Politicians and media outlets are saying that the US can't ban guns, that they must remain in people's hands. After all, it's our god-given cowboy right!

Ha. As soon as the police have drones prowling our skies, good old Americans will begin to shoot them down. And suddenly the government will find the will to ban guns. Until then, nothing much will happen.

Kill people? No problem. Interfere with government? You're going down, buddy!

Big Brother in the sky

NYT: Difficult to resolve safety and security obstacles may prevent the Federal Aviation Administration from meeting a deadline to allow civilian drones routine access to U.S. skies within three years, according to a report released Tuesday by a government watchdog.
(snip)

Industry forecasts have pegged the potential worldwide market for commercial and military drones at nearly $90 billion over the next decade, more than half of that in the U.S.

Let's all sing it together:

Irony abounds

So let's see. We're hysterical that some guy wanted to fly model airplanes filled with explosives into targets in the U.S. Hmmm, where have I heard this scenario before?

Today's NY Times:

Disillusioned by huge costs and uncertain outcomes in two wars, the Obama administration has embraced drones and precision raids in the fight against terrorism. 

How could anyone miss the similarity between these activities? Duh. Tiny, unmanned planes that bring death by remote control. We do this in other countries every day. That's why they hate us. And if you lived in these countries you'd hate us too. It's only because of the idiotic notion of American exceptionalism that we don't see ourselves as terrorists.

But we are, Blanche. We are.