"Robot" army now being deployed? Frightening quotes in the NYT

[peacebird]

"They don't get hungry," said Gordon Johnson of the Joint Forces Command at the Pentagon. "They're not afraid. They don't forget their orders. They don't care if the guy next to them has just been shot. Will they do a better job than humans? Yes."

The robot soldier is coming."

snip

"By April, an armed version of the bomb-disposal robot will be in Baghdad, capable of firing 1,000 rounds a minute. Though controlled by a soldier with a laptop, the robot will be the first thinking machine of its kind to take up a front-line infantry position, ready to kill enemies."
\snip

"The lawyers tell me there are no prohibitions against robots making life-or-death decisions," said Mr. Johnson, who leads robotics efforts at the Joint Forces Command research center in Suffolk, Va. "I have been asked what happens if the robot destroys a school bus rather than a tank parked nearby. We will not entrust a robot with that decision until we are confident they can make it."
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Okay - now my question - They want to develop these machines to have a sort of autonomy to make lethal fire decisions, admitting they are not there yet - but... how will a robot distinguish between friend and foe? How will it tell citizen from soldier?

editted to add link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/16/technology/16robots.html?ei=5094&en=38e8cb2d3ddb4b3c&hp=&ex=1108530000&adxnnl=1&partner=homepage&adxnnlx=1108530057-qfA9wW5qR1Jvw154ahgBVg

[mhr]

1. Robo Cop Here We Come

eom

[On the Road]

7. And You Do Remember the First Prototype of Robo-Cop, Right?

That presentation in the boardroom:

"You have ten seconds to drop your weapon..."
"But I already dropped it."
"You have five seconds, four, three, two, one..."

And the young executive volunteer is ripped apart by gunfire.

[DrGonzoLives]

2. The thinking machines are here...

Frank Herbert was right!

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

3. Neo - help!!!!

[shaolinmonkey]

4. Begun...

the clone war has.

[gorbal]

5. They can just blame the robot now

If a family with children get shot up by the robot, it was their fault, they should have known better than to have gone near the robot.(sarcasm)

Now Americans won't even notice wars overseas anymore. The robots will do all the dirty work and Americans will be told about them on a need to know basis only. In fact, if we go to war again, perhaps the press with be forbidden to report it due to "security concerns". I mean, why do the American people need to know that sort of thing. (double sarcasm)

[Kota]

8. They will blame them, but they are less likely to be caught.

Robots keep secrets better than soldiers.

[The Revolution]

6. Cool....A robot army!

We will have an army of invincible, intelligent robots armed to the teeth with high-tech weaponry!

What could go wrong?