Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 28, 2015, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE B4 B 4 WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28, 2015 CITY winnipegfreepress. com CITY BEAUTIFUL HOW ARCHITECTURE SHAPED WINNIPEG'S DNA The Winnipeg Free Press series City Beautiful - an exploration of Winnipeg's rich history of brick, stone, pride and progress - IS NOW A BOOK AVAILABLE NOW AT MCNALLY ROBINSON BOOKSELLERS, CHAPTERS, INDIGO, COLES AND THE WINNIPEG FREE PRESS. To reserve your copy, go to: winnipegfreepress. com/ order Or call LINDA at 204- 697- 7510 $ 29.95 plus GST and shipping where applicable MANITOBA ASSOCIATION OF ARCHITECTS Celebrating 100 years A WARD- WINNING writer Randy Turner interviewed architects, historians and authors to tell the story of Winnipeg through its buildings - some still standing, some not - over the last century; from the wild expectations of the early 1900s, through the search for identity of the 1960s, to today, where many believe the city is going through an architectural renaissance. w a E MMANUEL Goffi has dedicated his life to examining the ethics of the use of force - first as an officer in the French air force for 22 years, now as a doctoral student and University of Manitoba lecturer in the Centre for Defence and Security Studies. Goffi will be speaking Friday on drones and the future of war during the 31st annual U of M Political Studies Students' Conference running today through Friday. The forum on politics, defence and security will have as its focus, " The Legacy of Great Wars: Marking History and Humanity." Goffi sat down this week with Free Press education reporter Nick Martin. WFP: Are drones now capable of making their own battlefield decisions? Goffi: There is no program that will allow them to decide what is a target. I know it will be the next step. Technologically speaking, I would say it is already possible. People are not yet ready to accept that. Drones are robots, even if there is no consensus on that. Most complex are those that are acquiring greater and greater autonomy. There is still someone responsible - drones just do what they have been told by human beings. Drones cannot make their own decisions, there is control by computer specialists. There is still someone responsible for the control of what the drone is doing. WFP: If the technology is possible to develop drones capable of making combat decisions, why do you say the military wants to continue to use soldiers? Goffi: When you are in the military, you have to take risks. It's about dying for your country, even if it doesn't always make sense. People are not ready to accept that robots wage war. People are really rooted in the past - it's about courage, it's about honour. There is this kind of shadow in the past. Courage is about facing death firmly. WFP: You've written that Skynet, popular fiction and culture affect public attitudes toward drones. Goffi: Yes, popular fiction and traditional thinking about war. I don't know if you've heard about the Terminator syndrome, that people fear drones will become autonomous and decide when and where to kill people. It is hard for people to think that war can only be waged by robots. WFP: You write about drawing an analogy to a movement to ban the crossbow on the battlefield - did any state do that? Goffi: ( Laughing) No, no, not at all. It was the Council of Lateran, it was 1183, it was a religious condemnation. It was really not honourable to kill from a distance - you have to face your adversary in hand- to- hand combat. If you look at Plato, there is strong condemnation of people who use horses. WFP: There is an image of drone operators sitting thousands of kilometres away, almost like playing a video game. Goffi: They don't have enough experienced pilots to become drone operators; they have to recruit young people. Obviously, these guys aren't really aware of what they're doing when they operate a drone - it is like playing a video game. WFP: Do western nations now face, or will we face, drones on the battlefield? Goffi: ( Referring to the Islamic State) Weaponized drones, it would be really complex, they would not be able to create their own drones. It does not mean in the future they would not be able to do that. There is a fear of trafficking in this kind of system. At some point, we will see drones appearing in the confrontation of counterinsurgency. WFP: But could it eventually come to using artificial soldiers in battle? Goffi: Yes, it would be possible; long- term, we could have this. That is really a strong incentive, politically speaking, that no one on our side gets injured. It would be like the Robocop syndrome: at some point we will have this mix of human beings and robots by downloading brains. DRONES on the battlefield Lecture on future of war part of 31st annual U of M conference MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Emmanuel Goffi B_ 04_ Jan- 28- 15_ FP_ 01. indd B4 1/ 27/ 15 6: 32: 31 PM ;