ROBOTS ARE COMING

Item: Immigrants from Mexico flood into the country to do the stoop labor in the fields that puts fresh produce on our tables. But scientists and entrepreneurs are working feverishly to replace farm laborers with crop-picking robots. The thinking: robots mean no illegals, no INS raids, and no wall.

Item: Japan, suffering a major population problem, is developing "nanny robots" to mind the children of working mothers. In the USA, that will mean 7/24 workers who won't require private rooms, Sundays off, compensation and Social Security payments.

Item: Medical scientists in Israel have created a "Fantastic Voyage" robot which travels throughout the human body via the circulatory system. Smaller than a millimeter, the ingenious little fellow can analyze and solve health problems.

Item: The Germans have taken the opposite approach, creating the world's largest and strongest robot, capable of single-handedly moving heavy engines and large machines. It is reputed to be even stronger than Arnold Schwarzenegger.

But the American military may be developing the strangest robots of all.

The U.S. Army is working on "infantry" robots to replace the foot soldier in future warfare. This means no more body bags and grieving relatives. Military cemeteries will be replaced with scrap yards and recycling plants.

During the transition, the same army is working on the "Bear," which will retrieve and transport a wounded soldier, thus replacing two stretcher bearers.

The Air Force is working on the weirdest of the weird: a robot attack plane that is programed with ethics. The idea is that this plane will be capable of ethical decisionmaking. For example, if it reaches a terrorist target and finds that women and children are in the attack area, it will decide to abort the mission.

An "ethical" war plane will cause all kinds of unforseen results.

What if the youthful programmers have more ethics than the generals? (A highly likely situation.) Mission after mission could be aborted, destroying traditional strategic sand tactical planning.

The Universal Code of Military Justice would become a thing of the past. How do you court-martial a plane that refuses a direct order?

A costly endeavor like the ethical war plane could be easily and cheaply countered by a rag-tag terrorist group.

Visualize the following scene:

A terrorist lookout spots an incoming ethical war plane. He turns and shouts to his comrades, "Ethical plane coming. Get into your burkhas, boys!"

After ethical robots, what's next.... Faith-based robots?

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