IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2017 - 31

necessary and difficult investigation
into the problem of design for both
hardware and software attributes on
the one hand, and importantly the
civil/human rights of the soldier on
the other.
But, let us consider the other
possibility and the equally vexing
problems that arise from a soldier
where AI and IA implant technology
render an enhanced soldier. Again,
citing Roff's and Singer's article [1],
we can now posit something well
beyond a robot problem, and this
evolves in important different ways.
Consider that a chief concern to Roff
and Singer is that in a lethal combat
scenario with an autonomous weapons system (no human in the loop),
human target selection would be a
function of the machine (AI), and
this is a problem of morality as well
as a problem in that it threatens to
send us down a path of automated
killing of humans by machines that
is potentially open to problems of
control, authority, responsibility,
and outcomes.
If we remove the autonomous
weapon system from this scenario
and replace it with a machine-enhanced human operator (IA/cyborg),
other types of scenarios and conundrums present to us as analysts and
evaluators of such systems. Let us
assume that such a cyborg soldier is
able to process information faster
and with more precision. This may
solve part of the problem resulting from an autonomous weapon
system in that the cyborg soldier

march 2017

acquires more of the speed
of the machine, but retains
more of the human eleWe cannot know how much
ment for chain of authority, responsibility, and
machine and how much
civilian input. Since this is
human will result in various
merely a thought experiment with little to no
kinetic events.
empirical research to date
to inform our thinking, we
cannot know how much machine
tary. Certainly we would find great
and how much human will result
demand for such uses in the civilian
in various kinetic events. Neither
and corporate worlds as well. Howcan we know how such entities
ever, it is also a technology that
will evolve over time: which characcomplicates our society in numerteristics, machine or human, will
ous other dimensions.
become dominate in various events
Author Information
and for what reasons? How can
R.E. Burnett is with the National
we impact this sort of personality
Defense University, Ft. Lesley J.
evolution either through individual
McNair, Washington, DC 20016
psychological prophylactics or
U.S.A.
through social policy? An interesting problem may result where some
References
systems in an HIA may be inac[1] H.M. Roff and P.W. Singer, "The next
cessible to the human, or under
President will decide the fate of killer
certain event parameters, whereas
robots - and the future of war," Wired,
S e p t . 6 , 2 0 1 6 ; h t t p s : / / w w w. w i r e d
sub-systems could become super.com/2016/09/next-president-will-decideordained to remote operators as
fa te-killer-robots-future-war/?google_
interpreted by U.S. code or other
editors_picks=true.
[2] M. Horowitz and P. Scharre, Autonomy
legal instruments in either deliin Weapon Systems. Center for A New
berative or ad hoc situations. We
American Security, 2015.
raise the last issues as extreme
[3] R.E. Burnett, "The human information
appliance in combat, intelligence, and
examples to fully illustrate some of
diplomacy space," IEEE Technology &
the potential conundrums that could
Society Mag., vol. 32, no. 2, Sum. 2013.
arise with these sorts of implantable
[4] Jonathan D. Moreno, Mind Wars: Brain
Science and the Military in the 21st Centechnologies that might evolve with
tury. Bellevue, 2012.
this kind of human enhancement.
[5] P. Skagestad, "The mind's machines:
In sum, the element of implants
The Turing machine, the Memex, and the
personal computer," Semiotica, vol. 111,
is a technology that may enhance
no. 3-4, pp. 217-244, Jan. 1996.
capabilities that are attractive to a
variety of users including the mili-

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