You think and worry too much. If robot taxi bang or get banged
in an accident, whose fault? CDG claim ka ki?
If they want to intro robot workforce, the first place will be a
robot that cleans the table and clears the rubbish. But the robot
costs how much? Robot maintenance contract worth how much? If the
robot cock up and hits the customer, who pays? Kopitiam claim ka
ki?
So practically speaking, a robotic workforce got to prove
themselves on the front line in a war through drones, robot mules
to help soldiers carry heavy loads on the battlefield such as the
LS3, autonomous weapons such as phalanx and the PETMAN robot
soldier which cannot differentiate between civilians and enemies of
course.
Many technologies we use today originate from military R&D.
For instance, the first general purpose computer to be built was
the ENIAC. It was used by the US Army to calculate artillery firing
tables. After years of refinement through practical usage, it was
commercialised for civilian use.
I give another example. Martial arts originated from ancient
warriors coming up with the method to kill their enemies with
either bare hands or with weapons. It did not start off from
someone thinking of a way to do exercise. Kung fu was meant to
kill. Not to win medals in the SEA games or Olympics. I always
remind my kids when I teach them that martial arts was invented to
attack and kill enemies in ancient China.
So whenever you see some thing new, first ask yourself whether
the military is already using it. If not it means it still got many
years of research and improvement to be done.
In the military, when the robot accidentally kills someone, they
dont need to worry about insurance claims. Its only on Singapore
roads where we find workshop agents running to victims of a car
accident asking whether they need help to do an insurance
claim.
