Lots More Information
Author's Note: Are robots replacing human soldiers?
In "Rocky VI," heavy themes of mortality, performance-enhancing drug use and war-torn international relations are lightened with a little comic relief from the Balboa family's personal robot named "Sico." The machine interacted with humans, sang happy birthday to Uncle Paulie and even kept him refreshed with ice cold beer. The robot joined the family and, in less than two hours of film time, Rocky slayed a gigantic Russian boxer, avenged his friend's death and ended the Cold War. Coincidence? I think not.
Related Articles
Sources
- Atherton, Kelsey. "Robots May Replace One-Fourth Of U.S. Combat Soldiers By 2030, Says General." Popular Science. Jan. 22, 2014. (Feb. 9, 2014) http://www.popsci.com/article/technology/robots-may-replace-one-fourth-us-combat-soldiers-2030-says-general
- Byman, Daniel. "Why Drones Work: The Case for Washington's Weapon of Choice." Brookings. July 2013. (Feb. 9, 2014) http://www.brookings.edu/research/articles/2013/06/17-drones-obama-weapon-choice-us-counterterrorism-byman
- DARPA. "Legged Squad Support System (LS3)." (Feb. 9, 2014) http://www.darpa.mil/Our_Work/TTO/Programs/Legged_Squad_Support_System_%28LS3%29.aspx
- Dean, Cornelia. "A Soldier, Taking Orders From Its Ethical Judgment Center." The New York Times. Nov. 24, 2008. (Feb. 9, 2014) http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/25/science/25robots.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&pagewanted=all&adxnnlx=1392041031-tFosEawwh3w9Y/MjpaK/DQ
- Dubiel, Jean. "Robots can stand in for Soldiers during risky missions." Army.mil. Aug. 11, 2008. (Feb. 9, 2014) http://www.army.mil/article/11592/robots-can-stand-in-for-soldiers-during-risky-missions/
- Madrigal, Alexis. "Meet the Marines' Humdrum Toy: A Headless Miniature Pony Robot." The Atlantic. Nov. 20, 2013. (Feb. 9, 2014) http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/11/meet-the-marines-humdrum-toy-a-headless-miniature-pony-robot/281678/
- Magnuson, Stew. "Future of Armed Ground Robots in Combat Still Debated." National Defense. Aug. 15, 2013. (Feb. 9, 2014) http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/blog/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=1236
- McLeary, Paul. "US Army Studying Replacing Thousands of Grunts with Robots." Defense News. Jan. 20, 2014. (Feb. 9, 2014) http://www.defensenews.com/article/20140120/DEFREG02/301200035/US-Army-Studying-Replacing-Thousands-Grunts-Robots
- Sanborn, James. "Marine Corps to develop armed, 'intuitive' battle bots for infantry units." Marine Corps Times. Oct. 8, 2013. (Feb. 9, 2014) http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/article/20131008/NEWS04/310080005/Marine-Corps-develop-armed-intuitive-battle-bots-infantry-units
- Shachtman, Noah." The Baghdad Bomb Squad." Wired. November 2005. (Feb. 9, 2014) http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.11/bomb.html
- Tarantola, Andrew. "Robo Sally: The Best Bomb Disposal Bot Is Also the Most Human." Gizmodo. June 4, 2013. (Feb. 9, 2014) http://gizmodo.com/robo-sallys-bomb-disposal-skills-will-blow-you-away-511048993