What's really scary about autonomous weapons--and maybe this is obvious--isn't that they're deadlier than current weapons but that they allow offensive action w

What's really scary about autonomous weapons--and maybe this is obvious--isn't that they're deadlier than current weapons but that they allow offensive action with no real risk. There are things that both major parties (in the US) would like to do--say, confiscate everyone's guns, or shut down all abortion clinics--that can't be done partly because of the political fallout, but also partly because that sort of large-scale offensive initiative is too physically risky. It's very dangerous to try to take a building. Observe how numerous and well-armed are the members of a SWAT team. The current calculus for taking large-scale offensive action against buildings therefore involves not only the necessary political will but also the ability to find enough people who are willing to put themselves in mortal danger. Autonomous weapons will chip away at this latter requirement.