Call me a geek, but Monday's foreign-policy debate between President Barack Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney was exciting not only for the new attention it brought to "horses and bayonets," but also as a sort of coming-out party for the world of robotics. Four years ago, this field that was once the province of science-fiction writers but now covers everything from self-driving vacuum cleaners to military drones did not merit any mention on the campaign trail. Neither Obama nor Sen. John McCain was asked about it in their debates. But in Boca Raton this week, robotics finally made the list, joining such primetime issues as China, Iran, and the economy.
But while the candidates were asked what they thought about drones, unfortunately Americans still don't know much about their answers. Obama literally didn't have to respond to Bob Schieffer's question because, as the moderator put it, "we know President Obama's position on this" -- a very odd way for a moderator to pose a question, especially on a topic on which government policy has been far from transparent. Romney, meanwhile, provided the deep insight that "drones are being used in drone strikes" before swinging far to Obama's left with a call to counter extremism, channeling the new UNDP wing of the Republican Party.
This is a shame because, like it or not, robotics -- and not just the ubiquitous drone -- has become a signature part of the 21st century presidency and its use of power. The U.S. military now has more than 8,000 unmanned systems in the air and another 12,000 or so on the ground in its inventory, and they are used every day to protect soldiers in places like Afghanistan. More controversially, agrowing civilian intelligence agency fleet is also used not-so-covertly in places like Pakistan and Yemen, where the United States has reportedly carried out more than 375 air strikes, despite the fact that there has been no specific congressional vote on the matter. The technology's use in the last few years has arguably set a weighty precedent for the presidency, blurring civilian and military roles in war and potentially even circumventing the original intent of the Constitution's division of powers.
But the story is even bigger. Robotics is akin to gunpowder, the steam engine, or the computer. It's a game-changing technology not merely because of its power, but because of its impact both on and off the battlefield. While modern unmanned systems are still in the first generation of use -- the Model T Ford stage, so to speak -- operators for these systems are already the fastest-growinggroup in the U.S. Air Force, potentially reshaping its long-term identity as more and more pilots never leave the ground
And the push forward is only going to continue. A few weeks ago, the Defense Science Boardunveiled plans to widen the range of tasks taken on by robots in the U.S. military and to enhance their automation so that these robots can do more of these tasks on their own. Whether it's Obama or Romney, the next American president is going to be wrestling with a series of questions that will determine the future contours of this robotics revolution.
Take, for example, the areas of military purchasing and research. In a time of tight Pentagon budgets, should we continue the current planned trillion-dollar purchase of F-35 manned fighter jets, or invest some portion in the next generation of unmanned jets -- like the X-47 UCAS that the Navy is testing out on Maryland's western shore? Similarly, the next commander in chief will preside over the purchase of the Air Force's next generation of strategic nuclear bombers. It would be fascinating to know whether Obama and Romney thinks that planes carrying nuclear weapons should be manned, unmanned, or, as presently planned, convertible?
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