Gov’t should not use science to serve military
September 4, 2016
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2016 August 31 - September 6 TOP3 [POLITICS]
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Are fighting robots coming to the real world like fictional worlds in animations such as the “Astro Boy” and “Gundam” series?
The Defense Ministry in late August released a document regarding its strategy for future military technologies. Among the items listed in the paper, the ministry put emphasis on the utilization of unmanned technologies including robotic technologies and the development of personal equipment which would turn Self Defense Forces personnel into something akin to a robot soldier.
War involves killing people and causing human suffering. For those who wage war, it is ideal to minimize the number of victims on their side and maximize damage to the enemy. Unmanned technologies are expected to play a role in realizing this ideal. The Defense Ministry has been insisting that automated devices are useful in disaster rescue activities. However, there is no guarantee that those devices will not be used for military purposes.
The U.S. military’s use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is a “good example”. The Obama administration increased the use of UAVs in order to curb the growing feeling of war weariness in the U.S. after thousands of U.S. servicemen were killed in the anti-terrorism war which was launched by the Bush administration. Enemy targets are attacked with air-to-surface missiles by unmanned aircraft. As UAV pilots are at bases in the U.S. mainland, even if these aircraft are shot down, it will not cause casualties on “our” side.
On the other hand, such operations have killed nearly 1,000 innocent civilians in Pakistan alone. Tokyo and Washington justify the introduction of state-of-the-art military technologies by using the threat of Russia and China as a pretext. However, in reality, these high-tech weapons are killing innocent people in conflict areas in the Middle East.
The development of military-use artificial intelligence is even more dangerous. It could ultimately lead to robot soldiers which autonomously attack perceived enemies. The need now is to ask for what purpose science technologies exist. People should raise their voices to prevent science from becoming subservient to military demands.
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