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Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!seismo!hao!cires!nbires!ut-ngp!utastro!bill
From: bill@utastro.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: Re: Will Robots destroy the world?
Message-ID: <435@utastro.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 3-Jul-83 01:23:11 EDT
Article-I.D.: utastro.435
Posted: Sun Jul  3 01:23:11 1983
Date-Received: Wed, 29-Jun-83 06:03:56 EDT
References: houti.317
Lines: 37


*****
A new (and fun) topic!

What will be the effects of robotics and advanced automation upon society?
What problems will be created? Should "political solutions" be found for 
them, or will they solve themselves?

...

What are the effects?  If there are problems, how are they solved?
What would be the differences between the results, problems, and solutions
in, say Russia (totalitarian), China (communist), France (socialist), 
the US (mixed economy), and a hypothetical laissez-faire capitalist country.
Will un-industrialized nations be affected?  What will be the long range 
effects in each case?

*****

I have left out most of this article because it is really asking another
question.  However, we are already faced with a rather serious problem, with
robots already "in place".  I am speaking of the robots that control
nuclear weapons.  Yes, "ours" are under positive control of humans,
so they say, and we can hope that the same is true of Soviet weapons.
However, events seem to be propelling the world towards a "launch on
warning" principle, which will have very little human interaction.
Is this what we want?  How can it be prevented?  How can we ensure that
the robots we already have in place don't destroy us by our own lack of
wisdom in respect of them?

I bring this up because it is a serious problem that we still have time
to do something about.

		Bill Jefferys  
		Astronomy Dept
		University of Texas
		Austin TX 78712