Robotic War Ships

[ZenGum]

Originally Posted by glatt

Even when they are programmed well, operator error will always sneak in.

Worse, these unmanned ships aren't drones (which have operators back at base) but rather are autonomous. They make their own decisions, without a human in the loop. Which, when they also have firepower, gives a whole new level of meaning to "the blue screen of death".

It also occurs to me, that they'd make great scapegoats for when things go wrong. "A military spokesman acknowledged the deaths of the 800 civilians, but explained that it was due to a series of mis-identifications by battle-bots. No one is to blame, and no-one can or will be charged. Nevertheless, we regret the incident..."