Coming up we’re going to talk with a military analyst about how autonomous weapons aka “killer robots” could be one of the most deadly systems ever developed and may be the future of war. Welcome to Radioactivity, I’m Rob lorei. And we’ll talk with a South Florida progressive activist who wants to unseat Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
Our first guest has written a new book about the future of war— he says the weapons of the future could very well be autonomous, self-directed weapons. Controlled not by humans—but controlled by an algorithm that programs it to kill.
Our guest is Paul Scharre, a former Army Ranger who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. He’s the director of the Technology and National Security Program at the Center for a New American Security. He’s written a book about the future of warfare- called ARMY OF NONE (Norton).
Nations around the world are racing to build a variety of autonomous lethal weapons, with global spending on military robotics estimated to reach $7.5 billion this year. But what happens when a Predator drone has as much autonomy as a self-driving car? A growing chorus of voices are warning of the danger of autonomous weapons that could hunt for and destroy targets all on their own.
In the near future, nations will have to decide whether they want to cross that line and delegate lethal force decisions to machines.
Pentagon defense expert and former U.S. Army Ranger Paul Scharre’s new book, ARMY OF NONE: Autonomous Weapons and the Future of War (April 21; W.W. Norton & Co.), is a necessary analysis of this brave new world. In the book, Scharre traces the emergence of this technology, drawing on incisive research and his personal experiences through four combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan to explore the moral and practical challenges of machine-decision making in today’s messy, modern wars.
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A month ago—one time Democratic congressional candidate Tim Canova said he’s leaving the Democratic Party—but that he will again this year challenge South Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz in the November election….for the 23rd Congressional District seat which is in South Florida.
He hopes to appear on the November ballot as a no party affiliation candidate against her.
Tim Canova is a professor of Law and Public Finance at Nova Southeastern University’s Shepard Broad College of Law.
In the 1980s, Canova served as an aide to U.S. Senator Paul Tsongas. In 1995, he became the executive director of the National Jobs for All Coalition. During the 1990s, he criticized the policies of the Federal Reserve Bank under Alan Greenspan, warning that “corporate earnings could fall too far to sustain the current stock prices” and lead to an economic bubble-burst.
In October 2011, he was appointed by U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders to an advisory committee on Federal Reserve reform. The committee’s work focused on potential paths to restructuring the Fed and tightening rules on conflicts of interest.
After Canova lost the Democratic primary in 2016, he formed “Progress for All” to organize support for numerous issues, including the fight against the Sabal Trail Transmission Pipeline.
