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One issue is that this a lot different than an aircraft carrier cannon. Those are super expensive and limited in where and how they can be used. Also, the bigge

One issue is that this a lot different than an aircraft carrier cannon. Those are super expensive and limited in where and how they can be used. Also, the bigger the fear is that we don't know where this will stop. Great, so drones are being used in war for strategic strikes. Given the current administration, how long before that might be used to track down people near the border? How long after that to track down people who publicly criticize the administration? The biggest issue is that this enables an Orwellian society that actually scales and scales quickly. And for anyone playing at home, the "if not us, someone else" argument doesn't wash. We as a society have to draw a line. Maybe someone else will do it, but we need to fight them and not allow it, not just take our money and put our head in the sand. Just like the backlash about the NSA putting backdoors in routers and the more recent announcement of Amazon enabling a police state by scanning and identifying faces in pictures and videos. I'm worried that this will continue to push us to some pre-crime bullshit but instead of oracles with magic powers, it will be some half ass AI based on factors like race, gender, neighborhood and time of day.

josefresco 8y ago
"Maybe someone else will do it, but we need to fight them and not allow it, not just take our money and put our head in the sand" China & Russia are doing it. You can't fight them without ... fighting them.
- snarf21 8y ago
  Maybe we could spend our resources building systems that destroy drones instead of an arms race. I'm not saying there are easy answers but being defeatist is not my approach. I wonder what good we could do in this world if we really tried.
  - josefresco 8y ago
    Not so much defeatist as it is being a realist about the threats facing you, and the world. Maybe we could spend our resources building systems that destroy drones instead of an arms race. That's just another ... weapon ;)
    - snarf21 8y ago
      That's fair, it is a weapon. I would argue the difference is that this weapon prevents a 24/7 global police state, instead of enabling one. It will be very interesting to see what this looks like in the next 10 years. I personally already find the Chinese social credit system super scary and worry about an Orwellian life. As always, who will watch the watchers?
grigjd3 8y ago
If we're headed to an Orwellian future, drones have nothing to do with it. The fault isn't in a weapon system but is in us.

josefresco 8y ago

"Maybe someone else will do it, but we need to fight them and not allow it, not just take our money and put our head in the sand" China & Russia are doing it. You can't fight them without ... fighting them.

snarf21 8y ago
Maybe we could spend our resources building systems that destroy drones instead of an arms race. I'm not saying there are easy answers but being defeatist is not my approach. I wonder what good we could do in this world if we really tried.
- josefresco 8y ago
  Not so much defeatist as it is being a realist about the threats facing you, and the world. Maybe we could spend our resources building systems that destroy drones instead of an arms race. That's just another ... weapon ;)
  - snarf21 8y ago
    That's fair, it is a weapon. I would argue the difference is that this weapon prevents a 24/7 global police state, instead of enabling one. It will be very interesting to see what this looks like in the next 10 years. I personally already find the Chinese social credit system super scary and worry about an Orwellian life. As always, who will watch the watchers?

grigjd3 8y ago

If we're headed to an Orwellian future, drones have nothing to do with it. The fault isn't in a weapon system but is in us.