It's war - but not as we know it - [control robotics]

Intelligent machines deployed on battlefields around the world-from mobile grenade launchers to rocket-firing drones-can already identify and lock onto targets without human help. The first three armed combat robots fitted with large-calibre machine guns deployed to Iraq last summer, manufactured by US arms maker Foster-Miller, proved so successful that 80 more are on order, says Sharkey. But, up to now, a human hand has been required to push the button or pull the trigger. "Military leaders are quite clear that they want autonomous robots as soon as possible, because they are more cost- effective and give a risk-free war. To the extent that military robots can considerably reduce unethical conduct on the battlefield- greatly reducing human and political costs - there is a compelling reason to pursue their development as well as to study their capacity to act ethically, it reads.