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Unfortunately that is impossible as much as I wish it was possible. Russia, US and China will never risk falling behind in the field. Maybe we are about to hit

Unfortunately that is impossible as much as I wish it was possible. Russia, US and China will never risk falling behind in the field. Maybe we are about to hit the great filter...

wayoutthere 7y ago
It would also be trivial to build one; you can find plenty of homebuilds for airsoft versions of autonomous weapons from the last decade or so. Pretty sure the day the terrorists (specifically the domestic ones) start building this kind of crap is the day public spaces stop being a thing.
- jstanley 7y ago
  The reason public spaces are safe is not because it's hard to randomly kill people in public spaces, but because most people don't want to randomly kill people in public spaces. This is unlikely to change much, even as autonomous weapons get easier and cheaper to make.
  - Teever 7y ago
    That's not correct. The reason public spaces are safe is because it's hard to randomly kill people in public spaces and get away with it While you are correct that most people don't want to randomly kill people in public spaces a non trivial amount of people do. It's only the thin slice of that small group that want to kill people and don't care if they live after that we've had to worry about to date, and we see them in the form of suicide bombers or that Las Vegas shooter from last year. We will have much bigger problems when it's possible for people to kill large swathes of innocent people and have a high probability of getting away with it.
    - imtringued 7y ago
      >We will have much bigger problems when it's possible for people to kill large swathes of innocent people and have a high probability of getting away with it. You have just described every war and oppressive dictatorship in human history.
      - Teever 7y ago
        In case it wasn't obvious from my comment when I used the term 'people' there I was referring to individual non-state actors. A drone or a drone swarm is an incredible force multiplier that will allow individuals to commit atrocities and have a significant chance of not getting caught which will make enforcement and prevention exceedingly difficult if not impossible.
  - anigbrowl 7y ago
    Sure...in peacetime.
- throwaway744678 7y ago
  The limitting factor of terrorists attacks is not the lack of young men willing to die perpetrating them.
Bombthecat 7y ago
I think we did already. It will just take time to materialize .
chris5745 7y ago
It’s not impossible. We always have a choice.
- cooljacob204 7y ago
  It's naive to say that. We as individuals do, but you cannot control every individual in the world effectively. It's best to assume that it will happen and try to put safeguards in effect.
- anigbrowl 7y ago
  But I can't choose for you and vice versa. Agreements and treaties do a good job but a cursory reading of history indicates that they can also be violated.

Unfortunately that is impossible as much as I wish it was possible. Russia, US and China will never risk falling behind in the field. Maybe we are about to hit the great filter...

wayoutthere 7y ago

It would also be trivial to build one; you can find plenty of homebuilds for airsoft versions of autonomous weapons from the last decade or so. Pretty sure the day the terrorists (specifically the domestic ones) start building this kind of crap is the day public spaces stop being a thing.

jstanley 7y ago
The reason public spaces are safe is not because it's hard to randomly kill people in public spaces, but because most people don't want to randomly kill people in public spaces. This is unlikely to change much, even as autonomous weapons get easier and cheaper to make.
- Teever 7y ago
  That's not correct. The reason public spaces are safe is because it's hard to randomly kill people in public spaces and get away with it While you are correct that most people don't want to randomly kill people in public spaces a non trivial amount of people do. It's only the thin slice of that small group that want to kill people and don't care if they live after that we've had to worry about to date, and we see them in the form of suicide bombers or that Las Vegas shooter from last year. We will have much bigger problems when it's possible for people to kill large swathes of innocent people and have a high probability of getting away with it.
  - imtringued 7y ago
    >We will have much bigger problems when it's possible for people to kill large swathes of innocent people and have a high probability of getting away with it. You have just described every war and oppressive dictatorship in human history.
    - Teever 7y ago
      In case it wasn't obvious from my comment when I used the term 'people' there I was referring to individual non-state actors. A drone or a drone swarm is an incredible force multiplier that will allow individuals to commit atrocities and have a significant chance of not getting caught which will make enforcement and prevention exceedingly difficult if not impossible.
- anigbrowl 7y ago
  Sure...in peacetime.
throwaway744678 7y ago
The limitting factor of terrorists attacks is not the lack of young men willing to die perpetrating them.

Bombthecat 7y ago

I think we did already. It will just take time to materialize .

chris5745 7y ago

It’s not impossible. We always have a choice.

cooljacob204 7y ago
It's naive to say that. We as individuals do, but you cannot control every individual in the world effectively. It's best to assume that it will happen and try to put safeguards in effect.
anigbrowl 7y ago
But I can't choose for you and vice versa. Agreements and treaties do a good job but a cursory reading of history indicates that they can also be violated.