Even though
technology has different definitions I have always preferred this one: the total knowledge and skills available to
any human society for industry, art, science etc. Under that principle, it
is tough to understand the role of technology in warfare.
When common
sense tells us that every major progress in terms of robotics is aiming to
solve industrial and scientific problems, reality shows us something completely
different. It’s hopeless to see how much funds are designated to improve mankind
quality of life, if we compare them to the billions involved in warfare.
When I
first saw a Big Dog video on Youtube I actually was expecting for a sort of
robotic pet made by a Japanese firm. Expectations were wrong. The video was
about a four-leg robot that runs, climbs and carries heavy loads. Big Dog has
several computers in charge of controlling all its advanced sensors and can
carry more than 150 Kg, but instead of working in a factory or assisting in a
surgery Big Dog was actually carrying weapons.
Its videos
are scary and hair-raising; it moves like an actual animal, its movements are
surprisingly natural. It seems that all its locomotion, ground contact, visual
and internal sensors are performing in optimal conditions. There are no
obstacles for it; it goes wherever its masters command. It will keep moving at
impressive 7 Km/h.
Wow! That thing is indeed creepy! I'm both scared and marveled. I agree with you that it should be a machine for industrial work at a factory or maybe an assistant at a hospital rather than a war machine. The movie "Red Planet" came to my mind immediately when I watched the video.
ReplyDeleteI think that if we focus the technological advances in improving medicine we can make this world a better place, but if we keep inventing new ways and machines to kill each other our end will come soon.
"If we don't end war, war will end us" - H. G. Wells
It was really interesting the topic about that piece of military machinery; it reminds me some similar devices such as Raptor planes,Drones, tanks remote controlled, or even war using satelites, and GPS tracking. We would say that all the technological advances are come up to be used as a source for a better quality of life, but the companies that invest on them, and also serve as sponsor, use this techonology for milatary purposes; however, there are people that use this in order to protect and keep security over our heads, take a look to this "SkySeer" (visit the link below) a police drone that is used to chase criminals.
ReplyDeletehttp://news.cnet.com/2300-11394_3-6085259.html