#87 Russia Creates A ‘Skynet’ to Lead Its Robo Army

At a time when science and technology stalwarts like Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk are calling for the AI warfare ban, Russian scientists are busy developing the big daddy of the Artificial Intelligence. Well, the country doesn’t have an army of robots, but it sure does have a lot of machines and robots.

PowerTech & Powertechmation: Russians have created a ‘Skynet’ type AI that would soon control all the robotics in the country: civilian, military and even UAVs. The scientists have named it ‘Unicum’ which is the Latin for ‘the only one’.

The researchers at the United Instrument Manufacturing Corporation (OPK), a research corporation that builds high-tech communication tools and systems, automated control systems and advanced electronics and robotic systems for the Armed Forces of Russian Federation, has created a universal software that would give the robots (civilian and military) adequate brains to perform the complex tasks without human directions.

The scientists have named it ‘Unicum’ which is the Latin for ‘the only one’. As the team has tested, the Unicum powered 10 robots, the software was able to communicate and distribute the ‘roles’ among the robots. It even chose the commander of the group.

The Unicum is made to make the battlefield as human-free as possible. In the experiment, the Artificial Intelligence was able to choose targets and request target elimination confirmation from its human masters (thankfully, it does ask for permission).

AI has been undergoing phenomenal developments with each passing day. Just recently the researchers created a psychic robot, and now we have a software that could control all the other machines. What else is left!!

The Deputy Director of OPK, Sergey Skokov said that the technology is almost ready and will soon be installed in real life robotic systems, including UAVs.

He added:

"With Unicum, the robots will be capable of executing tasks independently, to see and evaluate the situation, plotting new courses as well as communicating with other machines. In fact, this is yet another step to the creation of full-fledged artificial intelligence, enabling mechanisms with nearly human capabilities."

Well, when we thought Artificial Intelligence has been maxed out for today’s levels at Tesla’s better than the human self-driving car, and the AI that becomes chess Grandmaster in 72 hours, the Russians took it to a whole other level.

What is your reaction to ‘Unicum’? Tell us in the comments below.