U.S. General: Enemies Will Build ‘Terminator’ Weapons

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A high-ranking U.S. general has warned that America’s enemies are building “Terminator” like autonomous robots with artificial intelligence (AI).

Air Force Gen. Paul J. Selva, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Thursday that “Terminator” like machines are being developed by enemies of the U.S. that could soon replace humans in the battlefield.

The future of war will involve autonomous robots instead of humans, says the vice-chair.

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RT reports:

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Speaking at the think-tank Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, Selva said the technology could be developed in 10 years – and that the world’s biggest military should punish anyone who pursues such weapons.

“This is about an entirely robotic system, completely autonomous, [that is] not dependent on the human decision,” Selva said. “We’re told by the technologists that we’re a decade or so away from that capability.”

“I don’t think it’s impossible that somebody will try to build a completely autonomous system, and I’m not talking about something like a cruise missile … or a mine that requires a human to target it and release it and it goes and finds its target,” Selva said. “I’m talking about a wholly-robotic system that decides whether or not, at the point of decision, it’s going to do lethal ops.”

While the technology for creating an army of ‘Terminators’ is not yet available, the US has been testing ‘Multipurpose Unmanned Tactical Transports’ (MUTT) in the Pacific.

Scary stuff. How the Pentagon want to make Terminator for real: http://t.co/XDm0AAwpEU via @motherboard

— Sadek Hamid (@SadekHamid) November 24, 2014

These machines can’t autonomously fire weapons, but are able to assist soldiers in their work by carrying weapons and conducting surveillance.

Israel has also developed self-driving vehicles which have been patrolling its borders since July and will soon fit them with weapons.

While the weapons will be remotely deployed by the IDF, Mainichi reports that “it is technologically possible to give the machines’ artificial intelligence (AI) systems control of weapons as well.”

Pentagon to Build Robots With ‘Real’ Brains – http://t.co/Fzuuf2Jdfg Did anyone watch the Terminator movies??!! Stupid fools.

— Brian (@BpSitRep) April 12, 2013

Selva called for the US to use international law to prevent such weapon development, but pointed to similar laws being violated: “In spite of the fact that we don’t approve of chemical or biological weapons, we know there are entities — both states and non-states—that continue to pursue that capability in our world.”

Colin Powell said;
We know Iraq has WMD’s, we have the receipts
War hawks say anything to get what they want…War ! https://t.co/VTJzytLrsx

— Charlie said: (@cbraga1955) July 31, 2016

While Selva was likely referring to Syria’s use of chemical weapons, he could also have been referring to Israel’s use of white phosphorus in 2008-2009, or even its own use of the nasty substance in Fallujah in 2004.

“In spite of the fact that we say we won’t kill women and children, we know there are entities in this world—state and non-state—that don’t care,” the general said.

Seeing a child bombed is heartbreaking. Now think: US Mideast policies have killed at least 1M children. #NoMoreWar https://t.co/38otrD5TbJ

— Dr. Jill Stein (@DrJillStein) August 20, 2016

The CSIS ‘think tank’ was recently criticized by the New York Times for pushing an expansion of drone sales while being funded by General Atomics and other UAV manufacturers.

The group is also funded by Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Haliburton, Aramco, Exxon Mobil, and other war profiteers as well as the United Arab Emirates.