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Robot’s Friendly-Fire Problem

I am a big fan of robots and believe they have the potential to revolutionize a variety of industries, including health care, manufacturing and, most of all, defense. I have written extensively on the Defense Department’s plans to begin utilizing robots on the battlefield, and last year The Guardian reported that the U.S. military hopes to have one-third of the U.S.’ fighting forces consist of robots by 2015.

I absolutely believe this is possible, but I am not entirely sure it will happen. My biggest fear is that the industry will likely face a rising number of lawsuits in the year’s ahead. Earlier today, Wired reported that due to a hardware or software problem, a robotic gun killed 9 soldiers and wounded another 14 in South Africa. Companies such as iRobot, Foster-Miller, Samsung and Boston Dynamics are all developing similar gun-toting robots, and while it is unfair to lump them in with this tragedy, it is also reasonable to expect that as robots become more prevalent in the future that similar problems will arise.

It goes without saying that if the company responsible for building the robot is found liable they should be held accountable. Beyond that, however, I would encourage readers when contemplating the future and trying to ”jump the curve” that they also always consider the factors that might slow down an emerging technology’s acceptance into society. This case offers a wonderful example and it should also serve as a cautionary note to people—including myself—who are bullish on robotics ability to transform certain industries. Just because they can, doesn’t mean that they will—especially if lawyers can sue robotic companies into bankruptcy for “friendly-fire"-related problems.

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Jack Uldrich is a writer, futurist, public speaker and host of jumpthecurve.net. He is the author of seven books, including Jump the Curve and The Next Big Thing is Really Small: How Nanotechnology Will Change the Future of Your Business. He is also a frequenter speaker on future trends, innovation, change management and executive leadership to a variety of businesses, industries and non-profit organizations and associations.

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