An example of the issues raised by 'televiolence'
Tuesday, August 4, 2009 by Technoculture and New Media
This article popped up on BBC online yesterday (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8182003.stm) and, for me, it's a perfect example of the challenges posed by 'televiolence'. What happens when humans are removed from the field of battle and operate warfare technology remotely, especially when the technology becomes "intelligent" enough to make its own decisions in reaction to what it encounters? The article refers to the problems of discriminating friend from foe and assessing "proportionality". But for me, it implicitly raises murkier questions still about ethical distancing and the question of further desensitizing military agencies to the violent consequences of warfare.