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I know it might sound a little bit unethical, but I find this coming revolution (+ I really think it is a coming revolution) incredibly exciting. Though there

I know it might sound a little bit unethical, but I find this coming revolution (+ I really think it is a coming revolution) incredibly exciting. Though there are endless evil creepy uses, there are also many very, very nice ones too - finding (+ even rescuing in awful weather with a big UAV) missing people is an obvious one, courier delivery is another (not with micro uavs though!) Having said that, I can't help but find the evil uses incredibly exciting too. Like military weapons that are deadly and awful in practice, there is some engineering loveliness there too (just look at an F22 for an e.g.). Sue me.

flyinRyan 14y ago
You'd have made (will make?) a fantastic Nazi.
Flenser 14y ago
courier delivery is another (not with micro uavs though!) FedEx micro UAV delivery was in Vernor Vinge's 2004 short story Synthetic Serendipity[1] and set in the same universe as his 2006 novel Rainbows End. "Jerry was looking upward, at the FedEx shipment falling toward his outstretched hands." [1] http://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/networks/synthetic-serendipity http://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/networks/synthetic-serend...
- singular 14y ago
  Awesome, thanks! I will check that out.
danielbarla 14y ago
Technology can be used in many ways, and I believe it has no inherent "evilness" to it; it's all in how it gets used. You can do both wonderful as well as horrible things with, e.g. medicine, nuclear physics, electricity, computers, 3D printers, etc. Granted, the video shows off a military application of this particular technology, so there isn't much particularly warm and fuzzy about it. That said, I'm a bit surprised at the overall response from the tech sites I frequent (HN, etc); it's almost as if everyone universally agrees that this is the epitome of evil or something. IMHO, there are far scarier things that will happen in our lifetimes.
- brazzy 14y ago
  > Technology can be used in many ways, and I believe it has no inherent "evilness" to it; it's all in how it gets used. Make that "science" and I agree, but technology is all about specific uses. What exactly is a non-evil way to use a microdrone with lethal armament?
  - singular 14y ago
    > What exactly is a non-evil way to use a microdrone with lethal armament? Pest control? :-) We're talking about a class of technology here anyway, yes the specific instances tend to obviously be for good or evil, but a class of technology has a wide range of applications. Also, I think you could argue that improving military technology so the military only murder specifically those people they meant to murder (I hate these 'collateral damage'-type weasel words) is a good thing.

flyinRyan 14y ago

You'd have made (will make?) a fantastic Nazi.

Flenser 14y ago

courier delivery is another (not with micro uavs though!) FedEx micro UAV delivery was in Vernor Vinge's 2004 short story Synthetic Serendipity[1] and set in the same universe as his 2006 novel Rainbows End. "Jerry was looking upward, at the FedEx shipment falling toward his outstretched hands." [1] http://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/networks/synthetic-serendipity http://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/networks/synthetic-serend...

singular 14y ago
Awesome, thanks! I will check that out.

danielbarla 14y ago

Technology can be used in many ways, and I believe it has no inherent "evilness" to it; it's all in how it gets used. You can do both wonderful as well as horrible things with, e.g. medicine, nuclear physics, electricity, computers, 3D printers, etc. Granted, the video shows off a military application of this particular technology, so there isn't much particularly warm and fuzzy about it. That said, I'm a bit surprised at the overall response from the tech sites I frequent (HN, etc); it's almost as if everyone universally agrees that this is the epitome of evil or something. IMHO, there are far scarier things that will happen in our lifetimes.

brazzy 14y ago
> Technology can be used in many ways, and I believe it has no inherent "evilness" to it; it's all in how it gets used. Make that "science" and I agree, but technology is all about specific uses. What exactly is a non-evil way to use a microdrone with lethal armament?
- singular 14y ago
  > What exactly is a non-evil way to use a microdrone with lethal armament? Pest control? :-) We're talking about a class of technology here anyway, yes the specific instances tend to obviously be for good or evil, but a class of technology has a wide range of applications. Also, I think you could argue that improving military technology so the military only murder specifically those people they meant to murder (I hate these 'collateral damage'-type weasel words) is a good thing.