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TECHNOLOGY Monday 15 april 2024
A13

U.S.-China competition to field military drone swarms HEALTH

could fuel global arms race DOCTOR ON DUTY

Oranjestad
By FRANK BAJAK of State Henry Kissinger Hospital 7:00 pm / 10:00pm
AP Technology Writer urged Beijing and Washing- Tel. 527 4000
As their rivalry intensifies, ton to work together to dis- San Nicolas
U.S. and Chinese military courage AI arms prolifera-
planners are gearing up tion. They have “a narrow Imsan 24 hours
Tel.524 8833
for a new kind of warfare window of opportunity,” he Women in Difficulties
in which squadrons of air said. PHARMACY ON DUTY
and sea drones equipped Xi and President Joe Biden
with artificial intelligence made a verbal agreement Oranjestad:
work together like a swarm in November to set up del Pueblo : Tel.582 1253
San Nicolas:
of bees to overwhelm an working groups on AI safe- San Lucas:Tel. 584 5119
enemy. ty, but that effort has so far
The planners envision a sce- taken a back seat to the OTHER
nario in which hundreds, arms race for autonomous Dental Clinic 587 9850
even thousands of the drones. Blood Bank Aruba 587 0002
machines engage in co- In this photo from the Defense Visual Information Distribution Ser- The competition is not apt Urgent Care 586 0448
ordinated battle. A single vice, British soldiers launch a drone during Project Convergence to build trust or reduce the Walk-In Doctor’s Clinic
controller might oversee exercises at Fort Irwin, Calif., on Nov. 4, 2022. risk of conflict, said William +297 588 0539
Women in Difficulties
dozens of drones. Some Associated Press Hartung, a senior research EMERGENCY
would scout, others attack. sistent tensions over Taiwan than 100 cheap air and fellow at the Quincy Insti-
Some would be able to piv- make the prospect of co- land drones in late 2021 in tute for Responsible State- Police 100
ot to new objectives in the operation look dim. an urban warfare exercise craft. Oranjestad 527 3140
527 3200
Noord
middle of a mission based The idea is not new. The at an Army training site at If the U.S. is “going full Sta. Cruz 527 2900
on prior programming rath- United Nations has tried Fort Campbell, Tennessee. speed ahead, it’s most San Nicolas 584 5000
er than a direct order. for more than a decade Not to be outdone, Chi- likely China will accelerate Police Tipline 11141
The world’s only AI super- to advance drone non- na’s military claimed last whatever it’s doing,” Har- Ambulancia 911
powers are engaged in proliferation efforts that year that dozens of aerial tung said. Fire Dept. 115
an arms race for swarming could include limits such drones “self-healed” after There’s a risk China could Red Cross 582 2219
drones that is reminiscent as forbidding the targeting jamming cut their com- offer swarm technology TAXI SERVICES
of the Cold War, except of civilians or banning the munications. An official to U.S. foes or repressive Taxi Tas 587 5900
drone technology will be use of swarms for ethnic documentary said they re- countries, analysts say. Or it Prof. Taxi 588 0035
far more difficult to contain cleansing. grouped, switched to self- could be stolen. q Taxi D.T.S. 587 2300
than nuclear weapons. Be- Drones have been a priori- guidance and completed Taxi Serv. Aruba 583 3232
cause software drives the ty for both powers for years, a search-and-destroy mis- A1 Taxi Serv. 280 2828
drones’ swarming abilities, and each side has kept its sion unaided, detonating Women in Difficulties
it could be relatively easy advances secret, so it’s un- explosive-laden drones on TRAVEL INFO
and cheap for rogue na- clear which country might a target. Aruba Airport 524 2424
tions and militants to ac- have an edge. A year ago, CIA Director American Airlines 582 2700
quire their own fleets of It’s not clear how many William Burns said Chinese Avianca 588 0059
killer robots. drones a single person Communist Party leader Xi Jet Blue 588 2244
The Pentagon is push- would control. A spokes- Jinping had instructed his Surinam 582 7896
ing urgent development man for the defense secre- military to “be ready by Women in Difficulties
of inexpensive, expend- tary declined to say, but a 2027” to invade Taiwan. But AID FOUNDATIONS
able drones as a deterrent recently published Penta- that doesn’t mean an inva-
against China acting on its gon-backed study offers a sion is likely. FAVI- Visually Impaired
Tel. 582 5051
territorial claim on Taiwan. clue: A single operator su- Just before he died last
Washington says it has no pervised a swarm of more year, former U.S. Secretary Alcoholics Anonymous
Tel. 736 2952
choice but to keep pace Narcotics Anonymous
with Beijing. Chinese offi- Tel. 583 8989
cials say AI-enabled weap- Fundacion Contra Violencia
ons are inevitable so they, Relacional Tel. 583 5400
too, must have them. Centre for Diabetes
The unchecked spread of Tel. 524 8888
swarm technology “could Child Abuse Prevention
Tel. 582 4433
lead to more instability and
conflict around the world,” Quota Club Tel. 525 2672
Women in Difficulties
said Margarita Konaev, an General Info
analyst with Georgetown
University’s Center for Se- Phone Directory Tel. 118
curity and Emerging Tech-
nology.
As the undisputed leaders
in the field, Washington and
Beijing are best equipped
to set an example by put-
ting limits on military uses of
drone swarms. But their in-
tense competition, China’s
military aggression in the
South China Sea and per- facebook.com/arubatoday/