I'll approach this from a different angle: it is more terrifying, because robots don't say "no." Since Nuremberg, the individual decision to refuse to carry ou

I'll approach this from a different angle: it is more terrifying, because robots don't say "no." Since Nuremberg, the individual decision to refuse to carry out orders contrary to national or international law has been a vital bulwark against atrocities of all types, including nuclear war. Stanislov Petrov saved the world by refusing to follow procedure, because he (correctly) believed the data to be in error. Tiananmen Square didn't repeat itself in Tahrir only because the commander of the theatre operations refused a direct order from President Mubarak to use tanks to retake the square. After the refusal, the order was relayed directly to the tanks within and among the square. Officers were calling their fathers, brothers, mentors, even one who called his former teacher, an American NDU Professor, all asking what they should do. Eventually, the armed forces defected, and Mubarak fell. Robotic soldiers (AGVs) have no such fail safe. They have no conscience, no larger sense of purpose, no allegiance to King and country. They can be configured to kill whatever they are told, without even a moment's hesitation. Having soldiers that can coldly eradicate populations serves as the perfect tool of the autocrat, and is the perfect foil of the volunteer warrior from a democracy. One risks nothing, benefitting himself, the other risks everything, benefitting others. That said, robots are merely tools: physical extensions made by humans, tied to mathematical algorithms written by humans, executed on silicon designed by humans. They can have whatever value system we choose to imbue. The ruse that we shouldn't accommodate is any attempt on the part of the operators to shift the blame for their actions onto the system. A drone doesn't kill 16 people at a wedding any more than an AKS-74 killed a dozen Ukrainian citizens in Crimea. People control these actions. It's like we spend all of our time obsessing about the puppets, and never question who's holding the strings. "Will robot soldiers be good or bad?" isn't the question. The question is, "Are the soldiers controlling the robot good or bad?"