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The dream of an automated mechanical army impeded by lack of trust

The dream of an automated mechanical army impeded by lack of trust

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Wired explores why the US military doesn't make more use of automated systems. Citing a Department of Defense report, it finds that a major problem is a lack of trust.

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DoD: cyber attacks may provoke military response
DoD: cyber attacks may provoke military response

The idea of a fully autonomous drone army right around the corner is unsettling to say the least, but a cursory look at the state of the military makes us wonder, given recent advances in navigation and robotics, why isn't more of it automated? Wired responds by examining the false dichotomy between a fully-autonomous "Terminator" and current-generation drones that simply shift the piloting to a control room away from the battlefield. According to a Department of Defense report on autonomous systems in the military, one of the biggest roadblocks to automation is — unsurprisingly — that the humans just don’t trust the systems, which "were rushed to theater with inadequate support, resources, training and concepts of operation."