US Military Is Testing An Autonomous Fighter Jet, Are Robot Soldiers Next?

While artificial intelligence can making computing tasks easier, it also has far-reaching potential in other arenas, including the military. It appears that the US military is now testing an autonomous F-16 fighter jet. During simulation, the AI was able to outperform human pilots, CBS News reported.

However, the use of such technology in military could raise multiple questions surrounding ethics and safety of civilians. According to a representative from Sikorsky (the military contractor behind the Blackhawk helicopter), such autonomous sytems "aren't trying to replace humans." Instead, he claimed, such systems could "make their jobs safer." Even then, he warned that robot soldiers could entirely flip the game.

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The future of military is autonomous

The experimental Blackhawk helicopter is controlled by a tablet. "We call it operating, because you're making suggestions. The machine really decides how to do it," the Sikorsky rep said. According to him, human loss could be prevented in situations whereby human soldiers have to be sent into dangerous arenas to rescue their fellow soldiers.

According to CBS, this represents a "larger effort to change how wars are fought" by DARPA, the US Defense Department's innovation lab. They've also developed autonomous offroad buggies, sea vehicles, and drones.

Also read: This Autonomous Robot Can Build Solar Farms 3-5 Times Faster Than Human Crews

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So, could Terminator-like robots take the front seat in wars in the future? According to DARPA programme manager Stuart Young, "there's always those dilemmas that we have, but clearly our adversaries are thinking about that thing. And part of what DARPA does is to try to prevent technological surprise."

Former Army Ranger Paul Scharre told CBS that already-available commercial tech can easily enable autonomous weapons at this point. Through a few lines of code, humans could be taken out of the loop, he said.

Also read: With AI, World's First Autonomous Ship Avoids Collisions Through 40 Hour Journey

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Yikes! Wars are already terrifying enough, adding autonomous robot technology into the mix could have unintended consequences on humanity and the world. What do you think, should countries be taking the scope of autonomous killer robots seriously? Let us know in the comments below. For more in the world of technology and science, keep reading Indiatimes.com.