Wired for War: The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the Twenty-First Century

• Author: Major Franklin D. Rosenblatt
• Pages: 07

WIRED FOR WAR: THE ROBOTICS REVOLUTION AND CONFLICT IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY1

REVIEWED BY MAJOR FRANKLIN D. ROSENBLATT2

1. Introduction

   Pity the librarian who receives a copy of P.W. Singer's Wired for War and must decide where to put it. Since the book wrestles with the changing nature of warfare, it could fit in with other books on war and military affairs. It may also belong in the science fiction section, since it is largely a tribute to the vision of science fiction writers such as Isaac Asimov. Perhaps Wired for War should go alongside works by other futurist thinkers such as George Orwell and Freeman Dyson. Is it really an ethics book? A science text? Strong arguments could be made for each of these.

   All these topics, and more, come together in Wired for War for a thought-provoking exploration of how technology is driving the most recent revolution in military affairs. The author convincingly defends his thesis that while the infusion of unmanned systems and robots into the frontlines of combat offers tactical advantages, it also presents a number of strategic issues that our nation must address as our war machines become inexorably more autonomous. The author has succeeded in creating that rarest combination: a rousing page-turner that is also comprehensive, timely, and well-indexed. Dr. Singer, who is the son of a former Army judge advocate (JA),3 has compiled an excellent resource that will help uniformed attorneys and military scholars anticipate future issues at the intersection of law and warfare. Predicting the future may be tough, but predicting that Wired for War will be just as relevant fifteen years from now as today seems like a safe bet. Singer has created a masterpiece.

   The book is divided into two parts, and each part is so different from the other that Wired for War could have been written as two separate books. In the first part, The Change We are Creating, Singer's enthusiasm for gadgets is on display as he catalogues cutting-edge consumer and military products. Singer then canvasses the scientific and defense communities, where we learn that not only are robots are doubling in number every nine months,4 but that exponential advances in computing ability could lead to thinking and feeling robots in the nottoo-distant future.

   Wired for War's real excellence is in the second part, What Change is Creating for Us. Here, Singer matures from ebullient YouTube generation spokesman into a thoughtful and wide-ranging visionary. Singer views the continuing encroachment of technology into warfare from dozens of angles, and is often uncomfortable with what he finds. A technological revolution has already played out since the Iraq and Afghanistan wars began, and even greater changes loom. However, nobody has really planned for the strategic, legal, and ethical consequences of this revolution. We are good at making things, Singer finds, but we tend to avoid setting goals for developing and regulating our cutting-edge technological advances. It is naïve to think that technology will end war; in fact, Singer's gravest concern is that the robotics revolution (and its tendency to remove humans from the front lines of combat) will make going to war easier than ever. The book's final sentence is apt: "Sadly, our machines may not be the only thing wired for war."5

2. What (or Who) Are These Robots?

   Wired for War starts with Singer's reason for writing about robots: "Because robots are frakin' cool."6 This proves true: the robots of the future will indeed be frakin' cool. Future warbots will range from autonomous infantry robots7 to drone warplanes that can pilot themselves and hover for years8 to self-driving automobiles9 to robots that can

   "morph"10 and change form like in Terminator 2.11 Singer gives fair treatment to the risks of these advances, particularly the human tendency to defer to machine judgment,12 the dangers of trusting machines to distinguish between combatants and non-combatants,13 and the

   competing views about whether unmanned systems on the battlefield tend to demoralize or embolden opposing insurgencies.14

   What is a robot? An obvious problem must have faced Singer when he decided to write Wired for War: how to interweave the machines in use today by the U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan into a book about robots. As it turns out, many of our current war machines are called robots, but they do not live up to the billing. Singer provides a...