Recently Hangzhou, Zhejiang based Unitree announced a humanoid robot that costs just 39,999 yuan, or 5,900 USD.
It is capable of doing complex movements like hand stands, cartwheels, punching, lying down prone, and standing up again on its own. It weighs 25 Kilos, and is about as tall as a smaller sized human.
I think this is an area we should be paying very special attention to. AI is getting all the hype, but it’s unlikely to have a big effect on the outcome of a war. Being able to mass produce soldiers though? That’s a game changer.
These robots would work in any terrain a human can once water proofed, and could be remotely piloted by human soldiers. Retrofitting them with weapons systems would be simple, and they could have armor plating added on so they could just stand under heavy fire and be fine. You’d need higher caliber rounds to take them out. (Exactly the things that the US is floundering to secure metals to make since China controls so much of the rare earth industry).
I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say that these could be the equivalent of the invention of the musket. If WW3 happens sometime in the next decade i expect the world to be shocked as it becomes clear war will never be the same again. It’s like a countdown has begun where everyday we get closer to the moment one of these is first used in a peer conflict, and an arms race begins. One China already seems to be winning before it even starts.
What benefit is there to having a soldier pilot a humanoid robot over a regular kind of drone? The drone is more mobile, can carry much heavier weaponry, and can be used for scouting as well as regular battlefield use. While having remote control Gundams would be the coolest thing ever, I just don’t think it would ever be practical enough compared to drones.
On the other hand, the larger payload and durability of a dirigible craft is far superior to a fixed wing aircraft like a plane, they can fly much further afield and carry a much heavier payload, and the act of controlling them is far less taxing than a biplane, or heaven forbid, a triplane. The Kaiser is a fool for investing in this new dead end technology.
You can read some of my other replies to people. By regular drone what exactly do you mean? Aerial drone? A drone tank? All of these have their uses as do humanoid robots. To compare where each is best suited i need to know exactly what you mean by normal drone.
Aerial drone, and I wasn’t being too serious, as you can probably tell by the second part of my comment.
Well if youre interested in the nuance on the Aerial drone(quad copters specifically in this case) vs Robot thing at all you can check this reply out i made to someone else https://lemmygrad.ml/post/8613971/6739358
I do think that if there is a use for them, it will become apparent, probably not replacing regular soldiers though, but augmenting their forces the same way tanks and planes and mechanised infantry didn’t “replace” infantry, but are used as part of larger combined arms forces. Hell, even stuff considered completely obsolete, like cavalry forces, still have their place occasionally in modern war.