The Military Industrial Empire has taken control of the US military in times of war there is a need for progress. But the eventual result of the automation of weapons is criticised for the emotional wreakage it makes of soldiers being worse that having their limbs blown off in the battlefield – does not really make a valid argument against their use. Soldiers are not just disposable, but now they can be invulnerable and reusable. It is merely a way of saying we have 100% survival and survival guilt rate. There is far less physical damage and death to tidy the soldier away as a statistic, so of course there is more emotional reaction to the potential of being promoted to wholesale rapid death murderer between your WoW sessions.

But that is not the issue. The issue is what are we doing? Why are we distancing ourselves from murder and distance between cultures instead of celebrating our differences and learning from each other?

Put another way – the idea that we have to kill (one another) to survive is outdated. We have already evolved an ability to understand and find ways of avoiding unnecessary conflict. But we also are evolving an ability to destroy more things more quickly and with less concern or cost, and create more of a mess doing it as our enemies imitate our actions.

Robot wars is like climate change. We will deny it is a problem until it is far too advanced and can kill everyone several times over.

If you did not watch it yet, here it is again: TEDTalk by PW Singer on military robots and the future of war