Robot warriors possible within 10 years says experts

Shaun Saunders sends in a piece from The Daily Mail online that suggest that far from being the realm of Science Fiction, the robot warrior could be a real possibility on the battlefield within ten years according to robotics experts. We are not talking about the present crop of remotely controlled machines. No, as the experts suggest, "Robot soldiers that can decide who to attack" and more to the point when to take action on an autonomous basis. How close are we now? Closer than you think. The article reports that "Over 4,000 robots are currently deployed on the ground in Iraq and by October 2006 unmanned aircraft had flown 400,000 flight hours". And that was over a year ago. The point being made : At the moment, humans can make the decision whether to attack or not but a recent policy shift in the U.S means that 'intelligent' autonomous attack robots .... that can make the decision to apply lethal force, when to apply it and who to apply it to are becoming a very real possibility. With the drop in cost of development and manufacture, these weapons need not be the sole territory of the military either.