Crappy science fiction has long presented Killer Robots as a danger. Thankfully, they have remained fictional – until now.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine, and now the war in the Middle East, have involved extensive and effective drone warfare. Drone warfare offers the sender the value of not putting human pilots or soldiers in danger, and threatens the target with unpredictability, and a loss of safe harbor, all at a much lower cost than traditional human-involved warfare. Drones can evade detection and strike targets that have traditionally been protected by distance from the front lines, such as distant airfields, factories, infrastructure, and capital cities. Drones can be so small as to be virtually undetectable, yet still carry lethal payloads. They can be deployed in overwhelming numbers, and they are cheap – much cheaper than anything that has to keep a human soldier alive. They can linger at altitude, waiting for an opportunity, striking with no warning at any target, military, civilian, or infrastructure. And now, they can do this without the real-time direction of a human controller, thanks to AI.
All countries currently using drones for warfare have incorporated some form and amount of AI into the computer controls and software in the drones. This allows the deployment of large numbers of independent drones that can take their basic programmed target priorities and adjust them to the conditions and opportunities they find at the target area. In other words, the drones have the power to decide what to attack and when. They are no longer under human control. They are killer robots.
Of course the word “robot” conjures the image of a human-shaped machine, but we already know that robots assemble our cars and lots of other products. These robots are fixed in place, although with moving arms, but are programmed to react to the conditions of the materials they are working with. We have robot vacuum cleaners, lawn mowers, self-driving cars. Many companies are working to produce and perfect human-shaped robots. Of course AI-enabled robots would be an attractive warfighting tool.
Robots shaped like human beings may be impractical for warfighting. They are tall, presenting an attractive target. Engineering a 2-legged robot to cope with battlefield conditions would be difficult, and limit its mobility in difficult terrain. Flying drones are perfect for the task. They can be any size, carry almost any weapon or warhead, cover any landscape including urban areas, strike from any altitude.
As a footnote, in the war on Iran, the US is relying on traditional aircraft, artillery, rockets, and sea power. The US has not been reported to utilize drones in this war. This could be the last war that actually puts humans in danger as warfighters.
© 2026 Bruce Merchant
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