"Terminators" Listed As One of the Greatest Threats to Humanity by Cambridge University

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Created on Thursday, 29 November 2012 13:31

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Nicholas West
Activist Post

Killer robots have been in the news quite a bit lately, even drawing the attention of major international human rights groups who have launched a campaign to stop the runaway development of robots for war.

The military-industrial complex and their partners in the Congressional "drone caucus" are reaping big profits from machine warfare. The rapid increase in computing power at a reduced cost is making a full-spectrum drone surveillance and weapons grid a very real possibility.

Most disturbing is that this war-matrix is projected to have the capability to make decisions independent of human review, despite Pentagon assurances that this will never be the case.

It is this autonomous decision making without accountability, as well as the theoretical self-propagation of robots coupled with AI computer interface systems, that is drawing the most concern.

As the video below covers, Cambridge University has now launched a "Terminator" study program known officially as the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk.

There is no question that technology can open doors to terrific developments which can enhance the human experience. In fact, technological progress can be a serious threat to Elite power. However, if we permit technology to be used against us by warmongers and central controllers, particularly within areas like nanotechnology, robotics and neuroscience, we are likely to see a door open up to very sinister possibilities.

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Corrections Corporation of America Used in Drug Sweeps of Public School Students

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Created on Thursday, 29 November 2012 13:29

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PRW

An unsettling trend appears to be underway in Arizona: the use of private prison employees in law enforcement operations.

The state has graced national headlines in recent years as the result of its cozy relationship with the for-profit prison industry. Such controversies have included the role of private prison corporations in SB 1070 and similar anti-immigrant legislation disseminated in other states; a 2010 private prison escape that resulted in two murders and a nationwide manhunt; and a failed bid to privatize nearly the entire Arizona prison system.

And now, recent events in the central Arizona town of Casa Grande show the hand of private corrections corporations reaching into the classroom, assisting local law enforcement agencies in drug raids at public schools.



Trick or Treat

At 9 a.m. on the morning of October 31, 2012, students at Vista Grande High School in Casa Grande were settling in to their daily routine when something unusual occurred.

Vista Grande High School Principal Tim Hamilton ordered the school -- with a student population of 1,776 -- on "lock down," kicking off the first "drug sweep" in the school's four-year history. According to Hamilton, "lock down" is a state in which, "everybody is locked in the room they are in, and nobody leaves -- nobody leaves the school, nobody comes into the school."


"Everybody is locked in, and then they bring the dogs in, and they are teamed with an administrator and go in and out of classrooms. They go to a classroom and they have the kids come out and line up against a wall. The dog goes in and they close the door behind, and then the dog does its thing, and if it gets a hit, it sits on a bag and won't move."

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Pentagon: A Human Will Always Decide When a Robot Kills You

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Created on Thursday, 29 November 2012 12:14

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Wired

The Pentagon wants to make perfectly clear that every time one of its flying robots releases its lethal payload, it’s the result of a decision made by an accountable human being in a lawful chain of command. Human rights groups and nervous citizens fear that technological advances in autonomy will slowly lead to the day when robots make that critical decision for themselves. But according to a new policy directive issued by a top Pentagon official, there shall be no SkyNet, thank you very much.

Here’s what happened while you were preparing for Thanksgiving: Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter signed, on November 21, a series of instructions to “minimize the probability and consequences of failures” in autonomous or semi-autonomous armed robots “that could lead to unintended engagements,” starting at the design stage (.pdf, thanks to Cryptome.org). Translated from the bureaucrat, the Pentagon wants to make sure that there isn’t a circumstance when one of the military’s many Predators, Reapers, drone-like missiles or other deadly robots effectively automatizes the decision to harm a human being.

The hardware and software controlling a deadly robot needs to come equipped with “safeties, anti-tamper mechanisms, and information assurance.” The design has got to have proper “human-machine interfaces and controls.” And, above all, it has to operate “consistent with commander and operator intentions and, if unable to do so, terminate engagements or seek additional human operator input before continuing the engagement.” If not, the Pentagon isn’t going to buy it or use it.

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Obama 'drone-warfare rulebook' condemned by human rights groups

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Created on Tuesday, 27 November 2012 19:01

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Guardian

President Barack Obama's administration is in the process of drawing up a formal rulebook that will set out the circumstances in which targeted assassination by unmanned drones is justified, according to reports.

The New York Times, citing two unnamed sources, said explicit guidelines were being drawn up amid disagreement between the CIA and the departments of defense, justice and state over when lethal action is acceptable.

Human-rights groups and peace groups opposed to the CIA-operated targeted-killing programme, which remains officially classified, said the administration had already rejected international law in pursuing its drone operations.

"To say they are rewriting the rulebook implies that there isn't already a rulebook" said Jameel Jaffer, the director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Center for Democracy. "But what they are already doing is rejecting a rulebook – of international law – that has been in place since [the second world war]."

He said the news was "frustrating", because it relied on "self-serving sources". The New York Times piece was written by one of the journalists who first exposed the existence of a White House "kill list", in May.

The ACLU is currently involved in a legal battle with the US government over the legal memo underlying the controversial targeted killing programme, the basis for drone strikes that have killed American citizens and the process by which individuals are placed on the kill list.

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(VIDEO) Robots to replace soldiers by 2035

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Created on Tuesday, 27 November 2012 16:11

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RT

Unmanned aircraft have become part of a growing trend in fighting wars abroad and with new regulations passed by the Federal Aviation Administration drones hovering around could become an everyday sighting within the US too. Many privacy advocates are fighting to stop drones flying in the US, but could killer robots be the next step in fighting wars?