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But this is the direction warfare is going, whether we like it or not. It started the first time anyone used a machine as a weapon. The mechanized warfare of the first half of the 20th century was very scary to people, and was very efficient at killing, but now we all look at it as the norm. The same will happen with this, and this is just a continuation of the same process. Ukraine using cardboard drones to blow up Russian tanks, Hamas using quads to hit targets. Eventually all warfare will be done this way, and every actor will have access to autonomous technologies. I argue it is a good thing; the goal in warfare is to negate the enemy's ability to continue their campaign, strategically as well as economically. Historically, manpower was the source of economic production as well as strategic advantage, so warfare focused on killing people. In a world where the strategic and economic targets are machinery rather than people, the number of human casualties decreases. Target automated factories and caches of autonomous weapons, force surrender, less people die. It also democratizes access to force, no more will the ability to establish sovereignty be limited to those will large populations. It levels the playing field, like firearms did, and reduces the ability for despots to concentrate power. It is the great equalizer 2.0. Of course, during the process of normalization of fully mechanized warfare, there will be asymmetry and people will die. But I believe the end result of this is a more peaceful world. |