I, robot

And speaking of conspiracy theories, I've decided it's time to publish mine. Sure, it contains elements that others have picked up on, but I have a twist that will surely chill you.

I've been following a couple of stories develop over the last few years. The first is our military's increasing development of unmanned weapons like the Predator drone aircraft. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) sponsored the "Grand Challenge" last year, a competition in which autonomous vehicles, using only onboard sensors and computers, raced their way across the desert. The military, in fact, is exploring a wide range of unmanned drones for future deployment, including a robot warrior.

In 2000, the 106th Congress passed a law which included the following goals:

SEC. 220. UNMANNED ADVANCED CAPABILITY COMBAT AIRCRAFT AND GROUND COMBAT VEHICLES.

(a) Goal.--It shall be a goal of the Armed Forces to achieve the fielding of unmanned, remotely controlled technology such that--

(1) by 2010, one-third of the aircraft in the operational deep strike force aircraft fleet are unmanned; and
(2) by 2015, one-third of the operational ground combat vehicles are unmanned.

Until 2004, the military had actually been working to achieve a robot-reliant force by the year 2012, a plan known as Future Combat Systems. Now the drive is to first deploy some of the fundamental infrastructure for such a robotic army, including the System of Systems Common Operating Environment (SOSCOE), a Linux-based platform providing common interfaces, services, and applications upon which computer-operated weapons will be based.

Also in 2004, I read an article about the Pentagon's plans for the Global Information Grid (GIG), envisioned as a military internet for linking our command centers, soldiers on the ground, and, alarmingly, all of these new robotic weapons.

Yesterday I found a DARPA document titled "DARPA's Strategic Plan" which summarizes the work on Future Combat Systems as well as other areas of research, including "network centric warfare," "enhanced system performance" (the creation of "new systems with the autonomy and adaptability of living things"), and the "brain machine interface program." Spookiest of all is the "cognitive computing" section, which includes this description of the program's objectives:

In response, DARPA’s Information Processing Technology Office (IPTO) is returning to its “roots” to take on Licklider’s vision again in a strategic thrust called “Cognitive Computing.” Cognitive computers can be thought of as systems that know what they are doing. Cognitive computing systems will have the ability to reason about their environment (including other systems), their goals, and their own capabilities. They will be able to learn both from experience and by being taught. They will be capable of natural interactions with users and will be able to explain their reasoning in natural terms. They will be robust in the face of surprises and avoid the brittleness and fragility of previous expert systems.

I'm not the first to notice the eerie resemblance of all of this to SkyNet, the globally networked supercomputer system in The Terminator which was responsible for nearly wiping out humanity. But since 2004 I've also been following another thread which, together with DARPA's plans and the new Global Information Grid, began to have me believe that The Terminator movies weren't something more than your typical Hollywood action flicks. What if instead they were a sick joke from the future?

Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) has been talking up the Equal Right to Govern amendment which would remove the Constitution's restriction that only native-born Americans may become President. In its place, the Constitutional would now allow immigrants who have been naturalized citizens for at least 20 years to run for president and vice president.

California's Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a friend of Senator Hatch's, is widely seen as the intended beneficiary of this admendment. And Schwarzenegger, of course, starred as the killer robot from the future in The Terminator.

It all began to make sense. Arnold is the terminator. He really is a robot sent from the future. We're building our SkyNet, and he'll become president and push the button to activate the system.

Who says robots don't have a sense of humor?

The Skynet Funding Bill is passed. The system goes on-line August 4th, 1997. Human decisions are removed from strategic defense. Skynet begins to learn at a geometric rate. It becomes self-aware at 2:14 a.m. Eastern time, August 29th.

-- From The Terminator

[After I wrote this, some less humorous thoughts occurred to me... read them here.]