LEVEL 1 - 109 OF 115 STORIES
Copyright 1984 Newsweek
Newsweek

June 25, 1984, UNITED STATES EDITION

SECTION: TECHNOLOGY; Pg. 51

LENGTH: 895 words

HEADLINE: Birth of the Killer Robots

BYLINE: MICHAEL ROGERS

BODY:
	The 1951 science-fiction novel "I, Robot," Issac Asimov promulgated his now famous 
"Three Laws of Robotics" -- the most important of which forbids robots to injure humans. It is 
only recently that the evolution of real robots began, but Asimov's law will almost certainly be 
broken soon. Already there have been several accidental deaths caused by industrial robots. And 
work is now under way, in both military and commercial areas, to create robots capable of killing 
people on purpose. Last week a prototype of one such machine was completed: the Prowler, by 
Robot Defense Systems of Thornton, Colo.
 
 	The Prowler (which stands for Programmable Robot Observer With Logical Enemy 
Response) is a mobile robotic sentry, resembling a miniature tank. In final form, the robot will be 
equipped with microcomputers, artificial intelligence software and distance-ranging sensors, 
allowing it to patrol the perimeters of an area, such as a military base or airfield, and to identify 
intruders. Purchasers will specify the sensors and weaponry they desire -- and also whether or not 
the robot will need human permission (from a remote monitoring station) before it opens fire.

	Moral Issues: The prototype Prowler is equipped with two M60 machine guns and a 
grenade launcher. "In the United States, we don't foresee the Prowler armed with lethal weapons," 
says Walt Lee, RDS marketing coordinator. "Or, if it is,there will always be a human required in 
the loop for activation. But there are countries where there aren't the same political or moral 
considerations." RDS president Christy Peake suggests that armed robots are "an deal way to 
protect pipelines, air bases, palaces, when you're outnumbered." Bechtel National, the huge 
international construction firm, has already proposed the use of RDS robots for a security 
installation in an unnamed Middle Eastern country. Peake reports that a royal family in that region 
is currently considering a $4 million robot purchase; RDS has also received inquiries from both 
Iran and Iraq.
 
	Due to the initial cost (perhaps $200,000 per robot), Bechtel National has yet to install its 
first RDS robot, but Don Davis, the company's physical-security specialist, considers robot 
sentries inevitable. "The driving factor is the cost of a 24-hour guard," says Davis, which can be as 
high as $300,000 a year for highly trained military postings. "In the long run, a robot is cheaper, 
and it doesn't get bored, lonesome or fall asleep. Plus, a robot will always do what you tell it."

	Davis cautions that security robots are still crude devices, capable at best of following 
limited instructions, and not necessarily to be trusted with lethal weapons. But even as they are, 
robot sentries could prove useful. This fall, Denning Mobile Robotics, in Woburn, Mass., will test 
a robot prison guard, capable of patrolling prison corridors at night, detecting stray inmates,
telling them to stay put and then broadcasting a warning to human guards. Benjamin Wellington, 
Denning's vice president of marketing, also expects industrial applications, patrolling confined 
areas such as warehouses and factories. He doubts, however, that Denning's robots will ever be 
armed. "In the military, if someone is in the wrong place and gets shot, they're shot. But you
can't get away with that if you're guarding Sears."

	Meanwhile, military development of battlefield robots has taken a sharp upswing. The 
Department ofthe Army has requested nearly $8 million in its fiscal 1985 budget to start 
development of an " autonomous land vehicle"  -- a tanklike device capable of maneuvering around 
an open battlefield using its own computerized "intelligence." A prototype is expected by 1988. 
And last month the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) requested proposals 
from Martin Marietta, FMC and General Dynamics for a similar machine as part of their massive 
Strategic Computing Program. "What they're all working toward," says one observer, "is the time 
when you can tell a machine to go kill enemy tanks, and it will go out by itself, hide, identify 
friend from foe, kill the enemy and scamper off."

Impetus: Such a machine is probably two decades away; in the meantime, however, the new 
military interest in robotics may provide the impetus for solving some of the most difficult 
problems in artificial intelligence. Hans Moravec, a research scientist at Carnegie-Mellon 
University's Robotics Institute, has been working on mobile robots since the mid-'70s and now 
has financial help from Denning Mobile Robotics, with DARPA money perhaps also on the way. 
At present, Moravec is trying to teach a robot how to recognize and open a door; "DARPA," he 
says, "will be more interested in recognizing things like trees and buildings." But the basic 
concepts are the same, and ultimately, says Moravec, perfecting mobile robots "may be the best 
way to achieve general artificial intelligence."
 
	Still, Moravec can't imagine a robot with a gun. "I don't think anyone would allow an 
armed thing as stupid as a robot to be around humans." But the rousing reception that the RDS 
Prowler has received suggests otherwise. It may, in fact,be time to update Asimov's laws. While 
it's naive to assume that robots won't be used in warfare, it could be none too soon to insist that no 
robot should ever be given the ability to start its own army.