Kill Decision

Most of us realize that the actual people in control of the United States are not our elected officials. This book addresses the implications of that power structure as part of its plot.It also shows us possible dangers of the use of autonimous robots combined with powerful artifical intelligence. Some of this has already been implemented in several countries worldwide. I can't divulge who uses it or what or what it is used for, but it has been used for several years already.I have serious concerns about the pervasive collection of data by Google, Amazon, Facebook, and many other companies. It is all too similar to SkyNet from the Terminator movies and books. I highly recommend this book! If we are to control our actual future limitations and restrictions must be used to allow us to live our lives freely as we see fit. Already there is exploration of technology to allow the accurate prediction of future 'crime' before it is committed and to 'restrain' the individuals who are likely to commit those crimes prior to their transgressions. We need serious exploration and public discussion of the possible dangers of existent and future technology before its too late to control it. This book and others like it provide us a glimpse of possible dangerous futures.

This "techno-thriller" novel is a conversation-starter and that's why it appeals as I am involved in a new effort to rein in the kind of technology that Dan Suarez warns of in "Kill Decision." Our campaign seeks the adoption of an international treaty that would require human beings are always "in-the-loop" or meaningfully involved in decisions to select target and engage or use force. This review looks at the real-world lessons provided by Kill Decision.In his book Suarez imagines a world where drones are no longer controlled by humans, but instead are fully autonomous. It may be a work of fiction, but, as other reviewers have noted, is based on solid research. Suarez is not only a best-selling author, but a technical expert who has spent years developing software and database systems, including for the defense industry.He is concerned with "autonomous combat drones" that would "fly themselves and make a kill decision without human involvement." The drones that Suarez warns against in Kill Decision are "autonomous--programmed to find and kill their victim, and then to self-destruct." He depicts the many dangers that armed drones could pose if this technology is not checked and permitted to become fully autonomous. The opening chapter, entitled "Boomerang," depicts a nightmare scenario of an unidentified and uncontrollable US Reaper drone malfunctioning over a religious shrine packed with pilgrims and launching missile strikes before it self-destructs, causing multiple casualties in the process.Odin, the main male character, is a US soldier working for a secret government agency who is tasked with identifying who is behind a wave of terrorist bombings on US soil that turn out to be a series of anonymous drone attacks. Early on Odin observes that armed autonomous drones would be "a revolution in military affairs" as they would "combine all the worst aspects of cyber war--anonymity and scalability--with the physical violence of kinetic war."The main female character is Professor Linda McKinley, a "myrmecologist" or scientist who studies ants, specifically weaver ants, apparently one of the most war-like species on earth. Throughout her career McKinley says she has repeatedly turned down military-funded research grants so she is horrified to learn about the development of a new military technology that seeks to "imbue a machine with the mind of a weaver ant."In Kill Decision, Suarez depicts swarms of small autonomous drones designed to cut through metal and the closing chapters of the book are a rollercoaster ride as the two heroes try to stop a swarm of hundreds of thousands of metal-eating drones that are cutting ships apart and demolishing their contents.Suarez proposes that "cheaper, more manoeuvrable, and expendable" autonomous drones could completely alter modern warfare. Throughout Kill Decision, he warns against their proliferation or an arms race as dozens of countries and private companies rush to develop of autonomous armed drones. He is also troubled with who could own autonomous armed drones and the idea that they could "be quietly controlled by a small number of unaccountable people."Suarez presents an imaginary US government position that requires "there's always a human involved in the loop to make what they call the `kill decision' - whether to shoot or not." This book was published in July 2012, only five months before the real Pentagon issued its first-ever policy directive on autonomy in warfare requiring the Department of Defense to do exactly that by permitting fully autonomous weapons systems that only deliver non-lethal force.But unlike legislation, policy can be challenged and changed therefore Suarez asserts that new law is necessary to address the dangers of war by fully autonomous weapons. Kill Decision describes the need for "an international legal framework on the proliferation and use of lethally autonomous robots."Suarez therefore welcomed the April 2013 launch of the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, a new international civil society coalition coordinated by Human Rights Watch that seeks to prevent the creation of the weapons he warns about in Kill Decision.In his July 2013 TED Global talk in Edinburgh, Suarez urged his audience to make sure that autonomous armed drones "remain fiction" by banning their development and deployment. Through his work and his public statements, this fiction writer has joined a new movement concerned with preventing the real and not fictional threat of fully autonomous weapons.Readers who found this novel "scary" or "terrifying" should not hesitate to channel that fear into positive action by supporting Suarez's call for a ban on fully autonomous weapons and joining the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots.

A drone strike on a crowd of pilgrims at one of the holiest shrines of Shia Islam in Iraq inflames the world against the U.S., which denies its involvement. (“But who else is flying drones in Iraq?”, is the universal response.) Meanwhile, the U.S. is rocked by a series of mysterious bombings, killing businessmen on a golf course, computer vision specialists meeting in Silicon Valley, military contractors in a building near the Pentagon—all seemingly unrelated. A campaign is building to develop and deploy autonomous armed drones to “protect the homeland”.Prof. Linda McKinney, doing research on weaver ants in Tanzania, seems far away from all this until she is saved from an explosion which destroys her camp by a mysterious group of special forces led by a man known only as “Odin”. She learns that her computer model of weaver ant colony behaviour has been stolen from her university's computer network by persons unknown who may be connected with the attacks, including the one she just escaped.The fear is that her ant model could be used as the basis for “swarm intelligence” drones which could cooperate to be a formidable weapon. With each individual drone having only rudimentary capabilities, like an isolated ant, they could be mass-produced and shift the military balance of power in favour of whoever possessed the technology.McKinney soon finds herself entangled in a black world where nothing is certain and she isn't even sure which side she's working for. Shocking discoveries indicate that the worst case she feared may be playing out, and she must decide where to place her allegiance.This novel is a masterful addition to the very sparse genre of robot ant science fiction thrillers, and this time  I'm not the villain ! Suarez has that rare talent, as had Michael Crichton, of writing action scenes which just beg to be put on the big screen and stories where the screenplay just writes itself. Should Hollywood turn this into a film and not botch it, the result should be a treat. You will learn some things about ants which you probably didn't know (all correct, as far as I can determine), visit a locale in the U.S. which sounds like something out of a Bond film but actually exists, and meet two of the most curious members of a special operations team in all of fiction.

This is an excellent book. If you see Daniel Suarez on TED talks you'll realise that he knows what he is talking about and is passionate about the dangers of runaway technology, in particular robot systems that act without human instruction. This is a fictional book about it could happen.It is a rollicking ride, the story gripping and enough technical description to make it believable for me as an interested and intelligent, but not a sophisticated IT specialist.I really enjoyed the book.The only reason I gave it 4 rather than five is that the emotional interactions are a bit wooden and some of the characters a bit stereotypical. However the plot is well developed and maintains interest to the last.If you're interested in robots and how intelligent, purpose driven entities might develop then this is a fascinating contribution to that subject.

Daniel is confirmed as my go to guy for techno thrillers.It is obvious from the technology involved that this has been written after the two Daemon books. The technology is more in keeping with what has being going on over the last few years.Seeing the complexity and variety of Open Source software available for controlling model flying machines (drones) and what some people are making them do on YouTube, it is very easy to believe that this story could happen now.I was going to call the review Flying Mechanical Ants but that sounds unbelievable and silly and the story isn't. Read it, you won't regret it.

Very interesting explanation and usage ideas for new technologies.The pages turned themselves and I didn't feel like I was wading through technocratic diatribe.It would be nice to see the author follow this up with a book that shows things from the perspective of a community actively attempting to stay off the grid post-Snowden in rural Africa, Columbia, but having a huge impact on the planet. Such as a decentralised technically adept but privacy conscious Holon.

Nothing could live up to the genius of Suarez's "Daemon" so inevitably this book comes across as slightly disappointing; but its concepts are brilliant as ever. As with "Daemon", this book portrays a believable future in which technology drastically alters the world.Readable, and recommended, although if you're a grammar nerd you might struggle a bit with the occasional mistake that completely spoils the scene.

Could you really sync the drones together? Are they the same as ants? An entertaining hypothesis. And the talking birds? A bit of mythology