Who Should Give the Kill Command?

The Department of Defense is seeking a significant budget increase for further development of lethal autonomous weapons programs (LAWS).  While technology and the use of weapons technology is advancing rapidly, policy makers are grappling with the questions of just which decisions machines should be making on their own.  Should an autonomous ...

To the Government and Silicon Valley: Grow Up and Get Along

My late mother served as a sergeant in the Women’s Army Corps during World War II. She was nearly killed in 1944 by a “buzz bomb” – think German UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) – that destroyed the London building in which she worked and literally vaporized two of her office ...

From Robots to Satellites, the Pentagon Wants to Do Business with Silicon Valley

With advanced robotics, autonomous machines and nimbler space systems on the agenda for the U.S. military, the Department of Defense has turned its attention to Silicon Valley to find the innovation and technology that will define the future of warfare. Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work this week offered a ...