XPost: comp.ai.alife, comp.ai.games   
   From: JXSternChangeX2R@gte.net   
      
   On Sun, 05 Oct 2003 02:08:31 GMT, "Jochen Fromm"   
    wrote:   
   >As the difficulty of the conditions is very high -   
   >the task is certainly too difficult for one   
   >scientist alone - the Prize should be very high,   
   >too - let us say a new $10,000,000 Prize -   
   >not more than 1/3 of the price for only *one*   
   >new F-15 jet plane. Only a larger company   
   >or community is able to solve this task. Only   
   >a high Prize will motivate a larger community or   
   >group to tackle it.   
      
   Your wish is granted.   
      
   Autonomous weapons are the hottest topic in the U.S. military right   
   now, and have been getting increased attention for the past ten years,   
   from teleoperated drones to smart bombs, from fighter-plane sized   
   UCAVs to hummingbird-sized spies, from submarine drones to toy-sized   
   wheeled reconnaissance bots.  The next generation fighter planes are   
   already expected to be unmanned.  There's probably more than   
   $1,000,000,000 at work today on (non-secret) prototype and production   
   projects, with maybe a thousand times that at stake over the next   
   twenty years.  And this doesn't even count strategic surveillance   
   projects!  Is a trillion dollars a big enough prize for you?   
      
   It's both very kewl and very sad at the same time.   
      
   We may get self-driving cars and walking war-bots out of the deal, but   
   these are still not going to be able to diagnose a disease or choose a   
   wine (or write a poem or laugh at a joke) any better than systems from   
   twenty years ago.   
      
   Joshua Stern   
      
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