Monday, February 08, 2021

The Answers Project Podcast: 
Will soldiers become obsolete?

Arij Limam


29:51 



From the need for a global currency, to what else is out there in the universe, CGTN Europe's brand new podcast tries to find answers to some of the world's most burning ethical, scientific and philosophical questions.

In the first episode of The Answers Project, journalists Stephen Cole and Mhairi Beveridge, with the help of expert guests, discuss the future of warfare and question whether soldiers will ever be replaced by robots on the battlefield. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

It's not a stretch to say the wars of tomorrow will be faster, more high-tech and less human than ever before. But will things like science fiction-esque "slaughter bots" become a reality? Can robots ever handle the multi-faceted role that human soldiers play in conflict, crisis and peacetime?

"This is soldiers effectively being replaced by robots. And it's a topic that lots of people are concerned about," Mhairi Beveridge notes as she introduces the inaugural episode of CGTN Europe's latest podcast The Answers Project.

"If intelligent robots take over the role of soldiers in the future and they're increasingly driven by powerful artificial intelligence (AI), will man or machine be in charge and, more importantly, who should be in charge?" she asks.

While completely autonomous gun-wielding robot soldiers are not currently running around battlefields or training, Beveridge says the technology is really not far off, as today robots can programmed to pick up things or follow sensors.

"My son is in the British army at divisional headquarters. They are very, very aware of artificial intelligence," co-presenter Stephen Cole observes.

"They're aware of quantum computing, the capabilities of cyber chemical weapons coding, robotics defense, computer-generated vulnerabilities. They know this is the future of warfare and they are creating entire brigades to deal with this," he adds.



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