Tag Archives: war

Should the mass proliferation of AI-driven war drones and robots be left uncontrolled?

Embed from Getty Images

The Chinese government, as I hope our MoD, will have noticed the important article of Nicholas Chaillan ‘To catch up with China, the Pentagon needs a new #AI strategy“, published in the Tuesday 23rd of November issue of the Financial Times.

As indicated, Mr Chaillan was formerly the first chief software officer at the US Air Force and Space Force. He is now the chief technology officer at cybersecurity firm Prevent Beach. The article points out the shocking “kindergarten-level” of US military/Pentagon cybersecurity in the US’ critical national infrastructure and that the next war will be software-defined: “It won’t be won with a $1.7tn programme of fifth generation F35 fighter jets or $12bn aircraft carriers. China can take down our power grid without firing a single shot”.

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | 4 Comments

Wars are rackets – some more than others?

War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. – – – It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives.

Smedley D. Butler

Major General Smedley knew what he was talking about. He achieved the highest rank possible in the US Marines and was the most decorated marine.
He said the only two reasons for armed conflict were the defence of our homes and of basic laws and rights. One is an external threat and the other is an internal threat. Currently we face the second.

The defence of one’s homes comes as a result of existential conflict. All other wars are optional.

Perhaps, there is more than one type of optional war.

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | 9 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • Chris Cory
    I confess that I know less than I should about this whole topic but I sense that it will indeed shape the future and we should be talking about it rather more t...
  • Daniel Walker
    @Peter Martin "Many countries in the West are happy to import raw materials from Africa but put barriers in place to prevent them adding value. So for exampl...
  • Pawel Urbanski
    Tom is right, that we are lacking the story.I think there is a national story to build here, and it's around local focus and growth, which is exactly where we h...
  • Alex Macfie
    I can't immediately find a citation for the Andrew Neil quote, which appears to be about the people on the list generally, rather than any specific person or pe...
  • Alex Macfie
    @Tim Leunig: Not about you personally; it's a reference to @Chloe's post above....