Autonomous Killing

Prepare for the Inevitable

“We condemn the portrayal of our technology in any way that promotes violence, harm, or intimidation. Our mission is to create and deliver surprisingly capable robots that inspire, delight and positively impact society.”  - Boston Dynamics

August 1, 2023

Meet Spot, the wonder dog from Boston Dynamics that can be purchased right now.  If you follow the tech industry then maybe you have been reading about this guy for years -- an incredible, if disconcerting, piece of robotics technology.  There are plenty of videos and articles showcasing Spot’s talents and many uses, from warehousing to industrial, medical, and dangerous environments.  Spot can be outfitted with an optional manipulator arm, and one should expect that future attachments are planned as well. 

Boston Dynamics has been hard at work since the ‘90s on much more than just this, however.  We are seeing the fruits of DARPA investment, military interest, and acquisition by Alphabet / Google in 2013.  Their other projects include a bi-pedal robot called Atlas that can run, jump over obstacles, and carry heavy objects.  Watching a robot do a graceful backflip is somewhat surreal. I encourage people to check it out.

Seeing some of Boston Dynamics’ development lineup below, one could be forgiven for immediately drawing parallels to movies like RoboCop or Chappie.  The early ones are clunky and prototype-like, but this is exactly the kind of progress you’d expect from a well-funded company working on the cutting edge.  Each generation is smoother, quieter, stronger, and more adaptable.  We are supposed to focus on, and appreciate, all the good that autonomous robotics will bring to humanity.  They will be used for warehousing, fighting fires, and rescuing coal miners from a tunnel collapse.  A remote assistant, if you like.   

Alphabet sold BD to SoftBank who then sold it to Hyundai.  That 2018 acquisition, culminating in 2020 full ownership, would seem to signal that this is indeed a company devoted to exactly what it claims.  And no, I don’t have any insights about BD to share that would indicate otherwise.  My recommendation is go buy shares of Hyundai.

But we have seen, over and over again, that this is exactly what the MIL industrial complex does.  It pulls together research grants and funding, partners with an outside company, conducts testing with the Army, and utilizes advancements from DARPA.  Inevitably that company trades hands a few times, revolves its key personnel with a defense contractor, or joins with a Big Tech company.  No doubt the key advancements were snatched up before Alphabet cut Boston Dynamics loose -- going out on a limb, I would assume there was a tech transfer of coding algorithms for balance and motion control.  But check out the below drawing of a 3D printed leg structure with integrated ‘arterial fluid routing’.  Holy cow.  At least there is some comfort knowing BD is now owned by a company in South Korea.  But that can only mean one thing....

Enter Ghost Robotics.

A 2015 Philadelphia-based ‘startup’, Ghost Robotics is also focused on robotic dogs and military contracts.  Coincidentally they are in an ongoing lawsuit filed by Boston Dynamics.  Friends, if you are well-versed in the optics of the MIL-industrial complex and the ‘amazing startup from nowhere’ model it tends to produce, then you won’t be surprised at all by this short bio from a 2022 Forbes interview of Jiren Parikh:

Jiren Parikh, CEO of Ghost Robotics, dropped out of college to become a back-country skier and ski mountaineer, then wound up selling enterprise software. Today, he runs a Philadelphia-based company making four-legged robot “dogs” for the military and government agencies around the world (allies only), including Singapore, Australia and the U.K., as well as the U.S.

Oddly, the healthy 55 y.o. died just one month later... but his legacy lives on.  The product is for sale under the name ‘Vision-60’ or just V-60, and continues ongoing development with Ghost’s partners.  The military has such a keen interest in these that it already carries the military-esque acronym Q-UGV, short for Quadrupedal Unmanned Ground Vehicle.  Great bit of marketing in that little innocuous-sounding moniker -- much better than killer robot dog.  Did I mention that SWORD International has developed a sniper rifle attachment for the V-60?  Hmm.

Ghost Robotics would not endorse such use, mind you, but the military is already embedded with various SWORD robotic-gun platforms.  There is no autonomous functionality, as of now.  The V-60 was nothing more than a walking tripod, according to Mr. Parikh.  As of now.  Naturally, Ghost was not always aware of how its customers will use the V-60, as he explains:

“We also have agencies that do work where we are not privy to the details.  We sell them our robot and they can use it with any software, any radio, and any payload, and the folks that are using these systems, they’re probably from special teams....”

It seems that virtually every branch of the military is currently evaluating the Q-UGV, officially in observation or ‘security’ roles.  5 Eyes and AUKUS too.  This should not come as a surprise, being as we are all one big, happy, military-related family.  We have been integrating armed robotic tracked-vehicles like MARS into operational combat since at least 2007 for example.  Advanced target acquisition (human recognition) and tracking, ‘semi-autonomous’ functionality, and so on.  I am barely scratching the surface.  Unlike the Boston Dynamics dog, you can take one look at the V-60 and know that it is a piece of military equipment.  Military grade fasteners and plug connectors, gussets, and hard points make this very plain. 

Now I have no problem with military equipment.  As such, the V-60 simply continues the military trend of unmanned force multiplication.  Call it semi-autonomous, call it remote-piloted.  Even with a gun, it would only be akin to an armed Reaper drone, but for ground use.  But it is also true that the defense contractors are working their tails off to incorporate autonomous capabilities, and so-called “AI” integration with command and control in the emergent ‘future battle space’ models.  We need to exercise extreme caution when trending down this path. 

Let me mention the aerial domain briefly, to give this a bit of perspective.  Perhaps Readers follow the upcoming NGAD projects, i.e. the Gen 6 fighter jet proposals.  These are typically tail-less with upgraded materials, stealth, powerplants, and a huge leap in integration with other theater assets.  They feature the concept of a remote ‘Loyal Wingman’, that is to say, a drone that will autonomously fly in formation with piloted planes and even join in the dogfighting.  The latest iteration of this concept calls for one pilot and a ‘swarm’ of drones flying with him.  Swarm behavioral algorithms are starting to factor heavily into next-gen aerial tactics and scenarios.  These drones determine the most optimal, mutually-coordinated aerial combat maneuvers on their own, in real time, far quicker than the human pilot ever could.  It is game-changing technology. 

It would be foolish to think that this tech is only advantageous in the air.  I see V-60 robo-dogs as the ground-based version of a Loyal Wingman.  A military ‘remote assistant’, not dissimilar from Boston Dynamics.  It goes with the soldiers, it does a lot of the more dangerous or routine roles, but of course it can be fully lethal.  Imagine a pack of these things ranging through an urban warzone, with various weapon configurations strapped to their backs.  After all, Ghost Robotics doesn’t really know what their customers do with the ‘platform’.  Imagine local police forces finally getting their hands on some, as frequently happens.  These are already being tested along the US Southern border. 

I know what you may be thinking, Reader.  “Drones and other remote lethal weapons always have a human in the decision loop.  You are just fear-mongering, Visayas….”

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It is about the Policies

Let us review two checkpoints, starting with the 2011 drone-kill of American citizen Anwar-al-Awlaki and his son, in Yemen, with a hellfire missile.  As a policy matter, this was only permitted because of his status as “unprivileged belligerent”.  That ought to bother everyone who has seen the ease with which citizens in recent years are conveniently categorized, in ways that remove due process for example.  You or I may also be belligerents, or suspected domestic terrorists, or some other vague category that removes legal barriers against the state pulling the trigger.  Al-Awlaki established that we can and will kill civilian citizens if they are enough of a threat. 

Fast forward to a 2020 UN-backed offensive in Libya, in which drones flying in autonomous mode located and attacked combatants on the ground with lethal force.  It matters not if the fatalities of that engagement were unconfirmed, but that the kill chain itself was triggered autonomously.  UN-backed; notice a degree of separation there.  “Wasn’t me”.  That engagement, then, established that we can and will use machines to kill autonomously, given the right circumstances.

So in the right circumstances, we will kill civilians and we will let drones seek and destroy ‘hostiles’ automatically.  The last few years show us there are only a few degrees of separation remaining between these quickly converging concepts.  Unarmed citizens were killed at the Jan. 6 ‘insurrection’ on assumption of being hostile, for example.  It is easy to imagine future ‘highly charged’ mass gatherings will call for armed drones in the sky, or robo-dogs for crowd-control. 

Enter A.I.

How to persuade the public to accept robotic or drone enforcement of this kind?  By convincing them it is fool-proof, and unemotional.  No startled security guard pulling a trigger accidentally.  No ‘belligerents’ from a watch-list making their way into the crowd.  Readers may know I often put “A.I.” in quotes, because that term tends to imply sentience in the mind of a dumbed-down population.  But the narrative managers are already convincing most people that “A.I.” can solve everything.  By the time “A.I.” is driving our buses, managing our finances, and writing our project assignments, what reason will we have to doubt it?

In a future protest, with autonomous robotics deployed as security, the first AUKUS citizen will inevitably be lethally targeted.  Friends, do you think the aftermath of that death will be exposure of some government plot to subjugate us?  Heck no.  The investigation would most likely show just how awesome the “A.I.” protocols and the robo-dog were at eliminating a terrible threat.  It won’t matter if it was actually a mistake or not, because we have seen how the Narrative News works.  Citizens will be thankful, because that is the way the narrative will go.  I hate to be cynical about critical thinking skills, but they seem to be in short supply.

In a future ‘pandemic’ scenario, with autonomous robotics deployed as security, the first Chinese citizen will inevitably be lethally targeted.  As Covid ^TM showed us, the playbook is to let China highlight the supposed dangers and show an over-arching response, so that the rest of us can be convinced of its seriousness.  Watch for it and count on it.  Spot has already been on trial runs in Singapore, and it is clear by this news photo what they are trying to communicate:  “listen to the robo dog”.  I don’t think the poor schmuck in his paper mask holding the doggie leash will be very defiant, do you?

OBEY

All it will take is a few viral TikTok vids to convince the world how dangerous that pandemic must really be, because they shot that infected person, and the A.I. must have known.  If I was being really conspiratorial, I would probably think that the last two decades of zombie movies might have been a form of conditional programming.  What to do when a crowd of unvaccinated belligerents is boxing you in?  Call 911 for air support!  No doubt the Good Citizens will have priority at the Emergency switchboard.  Maverick is supersonic, ma’am.  Drone will be there in 30 seconds.

In closing, our Borg overlords are not done yet.  The narrative managers are taking a well-deserved stretch break, and pouring a fresh cappuccino.  Rumors are flying lately about fresh Plandemics in the works, and multiple facets of the power elite angling to control the alien reveal narrative in coming months.  The run-up, of course, will be scheduled around the need to influence the 2024 election, just like in 2020.  I don’t hold great hopes of humanity being able to see through these emerging charades but I thank God every day that I live in a country too poor to afford surveillance, much less this kind of equipment from Boston Dynamics or Ghost Robotics.     

On a more cheerful note, it is probably not hard to think of ways to take out a robo-dog, should the need arise.  For the overhead drones, though, this needs some thinking.  I have some ideas about it for an upcoming article, related to bottlenecks in the ammo supply.  It is a problem that freedom-lovers will have to solve, but more about all that later. 

Readers, we had a great week in our little barangay.  Powerful movements of the Holy Spirit in dozens of lives, so I want you to know that when I am smashing the Alert button like today, it is not from a personal sense of dread.  We can’t know the Lord’s ways, and I expect if some of these scenarios do play out that it would also result in more and more people turning to Him.  But I exhort everyone to be active rather than passive, especially where your freedom and your Salvation are concerned.  My simplified advice based on what I see on the ground, is let the Lord be in control of your life.  Find a church.  Get involved.  Clear your mind for the coming struggle.  You are needed.

Peace be upon you in Christ, Readers         

Visayas Outpost