We have recently begun the process of making revisions to our manuscript for The SAIC Solution, in preparation for the publication of a second edition of the book in early 2013. I need your help. If you have updates to our “Companies formed by SAIC alumni” chart (PDF) I would like you to post them to this blog.
Also, if you have any updates or corrections to the first edition of The SAIC Solution, I would also like to receive those. I am looking forward to updating the book to incorporate my perspective on the IPO and its impact on SAIC’s culture and share price. I have already started writing new material about these subjects and more.
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I recently read an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal titled “Could We Trust Killer Robots?,” by Tara McKelvey. The article considers the very real possibility that one day drones tasked to target our enemies may have the ability to autonomously make life-or-death decisions, without the direct involvement of a human operator.
Current computer technology makes the production and deployment of lethal autonomous drones a possibility today, although to my knowledge our nation has not yet crossed this line. Of course, the deployment of lethal autonomous drones raises complex ethical and legal questions, and these will need to be addressed before any such systems are employed on the battlefield.
Dr. Ronald Arkin at Georgia Tech’s Mobile Robot Lab has been exploring these issues under contract to the U.S. Army Research Office since 2006. Dr. Arkin and his team produced an interesting video that presents the concept of the Ethical Governor, that works through a scenario for decision making by a lethal autonomous drone. As drone technology continues to advance, these issues will become increasingly important, and we will need to solve them.
— Bob