Air Force Planning Drones that Have Free Will to Attack

Clearly, somebody in the United States military is determined to hasten the pace at which artificial intelligence successfully captures world dominance from the grasp of us mortals. First, body-eating robots and now unmanned attack drones that are left to make a rational decision as to whether or not to attack a given target. In the lengthy “Unmanned Aircraft Systems Flight Plan 2009-2047” document, the US Air Force details plans for the unmanned drones that will hover over targets and decide if the time is ripe for an attack, making the decision all their own using existing legal and policy guidelines. Humans will be left to simply monitor the decisions, overriding if necessary, and perhaps supply a proverbial slap on the wrist should the drone attack a target that they shouldn’t have (assuming that Air Force personnel aren’t afraid of retribution from said drones). Not many additional details were provided, but given the name of the report, we’ll find out within the next 38 years. [via Engadget]