The Rise of Video Game Killers

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The world – it is a’changing.  This is evident everywhere (yes, besides Apple unveils!).  Heck, just look on Wall Street for that matter.  One of the more interesting, and disconcerting, changes lies in the belly of the military machine.

The military has long been trying to figure out unmanned combat.  The reasons for this can seem innocuous at first glance.  But once we stop and think about the possible current and future repurcussions, it’s very unnerving.

Unmanned combat is a very disassociative type of militarism.  It completely disconnects the combatant with the “target.”  Now, current warfare has this to some degree, but there are differences.  The first being that folks that drive these drones, aerial or terrestrial, can be in remote locations far away from actual combat.  This serves to disconnect one from the actual events.  [Modern long range missile warfare has this same type of dissociation to some degree]  Imagine the difference between using a bayonet and firing a missile from an unmanned vehicle.  That’s the type of intrinsic difference we are talking about here.  It’s the same type of force that drives anonymous posters on the internet to pour out their hearts.  But the result is not relationship, but disconnection.  It’s an odd irony.  Participation without relationship or context.  But I digress.

These types of drones are becoming immensely important and productive for the military.  The human damage for the pilot is, well, zero.  And these unmanned vehicles can quietly and stealthily go into places that manned ones can’t.  Also, the Air Force has long said that the real bottleneck in modern aerial warfare is the pilot.  S/he is constrained by the amount of G’s they can pull in the cockpit.  Remove the pilot and you can suddenly fly much faster.  That speed equals advantage.  Once you pull the human out of the machine, you can make a giant leap forward in capability and delivery.  The military knows this.

Now, on first glance these changes seem very advantageous.  They reduce life loss and enable superior military advantages.  One of the biggest advantages seems to involve the gaming industry.  I am not the first to make this association.  But flight simulators are incredibly advanced these days.  Add to that, the host of peripherals and controllers that you can add – and you almost have a functional cockpit.  Numerous military trainers have noted how younger people seem to just fit into unmanned piloting.  Is it any wonder?  They have been prepped for this type of dissociative warfare.  Heck, I was trying to do an offline co-op game a while ago and had a hard time finding any.  That’s because people don’t game in the same room anymore.  They game together online.  Again, dissociation.  I am not railing on the gaming niche, but rather trying to make a point that today’s gaming environments seem uniquely suited in raising up unmanned pilots.

Here’s a 60 minutes video on UAVs:

But this is all a step in a progression.  If you haven’t looked at Honda’s robotics division, you should.  The steps they are making are pretty amazing.  In fact, a friend recently told me about a robotics warehouse that his company operates.  Do manufacturing, etc. in the dark 24/7.  They just input raw materials and output product.  Occasionally, they have to do maintenance when an alert goes off.  It runs all lights out.  It all points to robotic warfare.  Sure, the aim is human casualty.  But robotic elements will be steadily increased.  How would having a standing army of robots change the way governments handle warfare?  For starters, it would make me nervous that the powers that be wouldn’t need a standing army of people.  That transition would have to be handled with the utmost care.  But for now, I guess we can enjoy our flight simulators.

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