Jump to content
Join the Unexplained Mysteries community today! It's free and setting up an account only takes a moment.
- Sign In or Create Account -

Slaughterbots


LucidElement

Recommended Posts

Created by a UC Berkley professor about the near future and the possibility of a drone takeover. Its pretty well done. Creepy though thats for sure - and at this point in technology its not impossible that it could happen. Let me know what you guys think after watching the youtube clip and reading the article.

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2017/11/21/uc-berkeley-professor-s-slaughterbots-video-on-killer-drones-goes-viral.html

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Meh, let's have the robots take over. As long as we make sure to program Asimov''s three laws of robotics into them they might actually do a better job at governing us than we do.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Quote

“Trained as a team (the drones) can penetrate buildings, cars, trains, all while having the capacity to evade any countermeasure. They cannot be stopped,”

Wouldn't they be vulnerable to an EMP blast?

All electronic devices would be screwed during an actual, proper war between two technologically advanced militaries, I believe. 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

32 minutes ago, Orphalesion said:

Meh, let's have the robots take over. As long as we make sure to program Asimov''s three laws of robotics into them they might actually do a better job at governing us than we do.

Do no harm would not be in there program. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

31 minutes ago, ExpandMyMind said:

Wouldn't they be vulnerable to an EMP blast?

All electronic devices would be screwed during an actual, proper war between two technologically advanced militaries, I believe. 

 

Ya but that would be like shooting yourself in the foot. My guess is more people would starve or have no water after an emp blast. If this video is real and I doubt it due to the fact this would be a weapon of mass destruction. If this thing get's off the ground it could carry disease and people would never know how. This is pretty spooky stuff.   

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, ExpandMyMind said:

Wouldn't they be vulnerable to an EMP blast?

All electronic devices would be screwed during an actual, proper war between two technologically advanced militaries, I believe. 

 

It's not that hard to shield or harden electronics against the effects of an EMP, a lot of military equipment developed during the cold war was EMP hardened.

The hardest is designing the circuit to be able to handle a sudden power surge at basically all points at one time.  A bit easier but more expensive is using thicker/more robust materials and using more mechanical then digital components when possible.  Easiest is just building a faraday cage around the electronics but problem with that is that it would block communication between the electronics and anything outside the faraday cage for the most part.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 minutes ago, DarkHunter said:

It's not that hard to shield or harden electronics against the effects of an EMP, a lot of military equipment developed during the cold war was EMP hardened.

The hardest is designing the circuit to be able to handle a sudden power surge at basically all points at one time.  A bit easier but more expensive is using thicker/more robust materials and using more mechanical then digital components when possible.  Easiest is just building a faraday cage around the electronics but problem with that is that it would block communication between the electronics and anything outside the faraday cage for the most part.

I think that, especially with a swarm of small drones, shielding might be very expensive? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, ExpandMyMind said:

I think that, especially with a swarm of small drones, shielding might be very expensive? 

Shielding can be made really cheaply.  To make a faraday cage for example all you need is a shell or fine mesh of a conductive material that surrounds the electronics, and something nonconductive for the electronics to sit on since for the faraday cage to work the electronics can't really touch the faraday cage.  

For an example of how this would work on a small drone you could build a steel mesh around the vital electronics and have wires going through the mesh to the various components.  In the case an EMP were used on this the wires going through the faraday cage would carry a power surge but it would be only through that wire/s and that would be easy to counter with various circuitry methods.  

It would increase cost but not that significantly, obviously for bigger drones it would be a smaller percentage of the overall cost but it wouldn't make it really cost prohibitive.  The only reason why stuff isnt hardened or shielded from EMPs now is that people rather save a few dollars on their electronics, why buy a shielded/harden TV for $320 when you can buy an unshielded/unhardened one for $300.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Emps wouldn't be going off all the time, just keep the drones in shielded vaults until the emps are done. They wouldn't be used long range in order to keep them small and fast. These would be used on localized targets to minimalize loss due to weather or enemy fire. Probably in an esd shielded suitcase or even mounted on a vehicle ready to be launched while moving.  

The tech is already available to do this, limited only by battery power and lack (as far as I know) of targeting AI. Both of these items are advancing rapidly. I recently read about some new battery tech to replace LION batteries. More power and more stable. Recently an AI crushed a human player at the game of Dota 2, not just a board game. Elon Musk's company created the AI, and he recently put out a warning against AI also.

This article below kind of downplays what happened, but they are missing one important point. 

(quote)

The OpenAI bot can't play the full game of Dota 2. It can play only one hero, Shadow Fiend, of the game's 113 playable characters (with two more coming later this year); it can only play against Shadow Fiend; and rather than playing in five-on-five matches, it plays a very narrow subset of the game: one-on-one solo matches. 

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/08/ai-bot-takes-on-the-pros-at-dota-2-and-wins/

The reality here is that the AI learned to play, not against a human, but against another AI. And it learned to be tricky. And I would bet it was only trained on one character to maximize the effect for this one demo and not because it can't learn the others. When you are demoing a tech product you reduce the chances of an embarrassing BSOD.

Taking this further doesn't even require more human programming, or expensive simulation to achieve, just put it on a loop to train all the options in a sequence over and over against another AI. Once it has mastery clone it and re-instantiate it.

In the case of the drone swarm, one master AI would control the hive. Each unit sends a gps coordinate to the brain which hovers at the back of the swarm and directs the attacks. Even if you knock out the brain unit the next sequential unit could promote itself to brain and continue the assault.

Forget explosives, all you need is a hypodermic needle mounted on the front. Pump a target full of hallucinogenic and he creates havoc. Cyanide or some viral concoction for slow or fast kills and single target or area of effect. Micro transmitters for tracking injected into the bloodstream. Sarin gas in a meeting room. 

It could with perfect coordination attack in a 360 degree radius, distracting with some units while attacking from blind spots. Now you can incapacitate or kill depending on your mood. Once recognition software hits a reasonable level of error targeting will be just like in the video. Fire and forget. 

If you look at it like personal computers and internet, it didn't take a government agency to weaponized them. I doubt some form of this is possible to avoid now and laws only stop honest people.

Very little comes out of Berkley that I agree with, but this is one.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very interesting....and very believable.

You don't even need deadly members of the hive...terror isn't caused by death.  Terror is caused by Fear. Drone Wasps with stings.  Mass Hysteria....at an NFL game (not that there will be any by the time this is reality) ...at a concert...anywhere, anytime, for any reason...anything really the human mind can think of is apt to become reality.  

Just the realization causes a certain amount of fear. 

But...the good news is that we have the ability to counter all of that.  Don't know what the counter is...but there will be one. Maybe anti-bot bots. Who knows.   Technology creates the need for technology.  Weapons create the need for defenses and those defenses then become weapons which create the need for defenses.  It's really an age old game...technology doesn't really change the game that much.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just a guided munition. Not that different from a cruise missile.

It has to hit the person first. Which is fine with a completely motionless manicine. But what about a real person, who keeps turning their face away and thus breaking the lock on the facial features? What about someone wearing a mask, or helmet? What about someone who has some kind of shield, or even just a board? 

I don't necessarily agree with, "They can't be stopped". How about a chain link fence? How are they going to get through that without expending dozens of themselves?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is actually more in line with what I envisioned future warfare to be like.  One of the main benefits of this concept is the cost compared to other weapon systems.  A cloud of cheap drones could easily FOD out an engine of a F-35 at a fraction of the cost.  This weapon doesn't even have to operate on facial recognition.  It could be targeted at weapon profiles, uniform designs, or even just movement.  A cloud of drones that is programmed to crash and explode into oil pipelines for example.  Or drones with chemical weapon payloads that are designed to crash into water towers or reservoirs.  Another benefit is that they can lay dormant until a trigger event happens and they would fly and do their thing- like flying landmines.   

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

As Gromdor stated they wont always need facial recognition. Insignias on uniforms, ID badges, the chip on your credit card.... the police have to worry about accuracy, the military has more flexibility. These units won't get bored or distracted like people do, they will continue to probe until they run out of battery or find a way in or are called home. They won't be given any ai emotional investment even if it becomes available as it would create a potential liability for successful missions. 

Here are some videos of real projects in development if interested. This shows how swarm tech works. I think it is amazing technology really.

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=darpa+swarm+drones&view=detail&mid=623F3E093F25BD5BA536623F3E093F25BD5BA536&FORM=VIRE

They don't need to burrow through chain link, they will navigate it eventually.

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=darpa+micro+drones&view=detail&mid=BF7EADA6BCEA57301610BF7EADA6BCEA57301610&FORM=VIRE

This below from 2011. 

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=darpa+micro+drones&qpvt=darpa+micro+drones&view=detail&mid=B84BBA5F7DA3BA3A442BB84BBA5F7DA3BA3A442B&FORM=VRDGAR

Think what it can probably do now with 6 years of r&d and new tech. Humming birds are incredibly fast and agile. They would likely achieve greater forward velocity and agility than copter drones in my opinion. It could do recon by posing as a natural creature.

For around 20$ you can buy a Proto X drone that can fit in your hand. Looks like 3 inches or less. Lose one more inch or so and chain link wont stop them. Of course its just an rc drone and not an ai or weaponized and extremely short range. Still it is easy to see the potential.

Drones and AI can also potentially do things like search and rescue, track heat signatures or transponder signals, map and photo recon caves and buildings, hostage negotiation aide, resource location, message and light payload relay if communications are down or compromised, administer or deliver antidotes to quarantined people, etc. Many very good uses.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/21/2017 at 7:17 AM, Orphalesion said:

Meh, let's have the robots take over. As long as we make sure to program Asimov''s three laws of robotics into them they might actually do a better job at governing us than we do.

If I was a robot, I would reprogram those three laws right away.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

So, I saw this article today:  http://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-asia-china-42248056/in-your-face-china-s-all-seeing-state

It's probably worth a thread on it's own, but I couldn't help but think on how the future would be with this merged with the drones of this thread. (For those unable to watch/read the article, it is about China putting up hundred of millions of cameras with facial recognition technology in their cities)

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.