Can Robots Take Over the World?

Is it possible for humans to design robots that are so powerful and self-aware that they can replicate and eventually take over the entire world? This is one of the clearest outcomes of robotic technology that science fiction writers have envisioned. Yet, it is not that far from being a reality. Already the United States has robot drones capable of delivering massive destructive power remotely. Currently they are guided by human operators. That is a mere formality. They can just as easily be self-guided. There is nothing in the circuit board design that prevents these drones from being autonomous. Some might say, the drones would be even more effective without human control, which essentially is interference in the mission and not necessary.

When Do Robots Take Over?

Already robots are better at doing things that humans cannot do as well, or that are unsafe for a human to do, such as disarming bombs or working in highly radioactive environments. The question to ask is when are humans redundant? When is it better to allow robots to take over and for humans to take a step back?

The Future is Now
While this may seem like a question from science fiction; it really is not that far away. Already a super computer built by IBM was able to beat the best world chess human champion. This is old news now because the IBM computer named “Deep Blue,” beat Garry Kasparov in 1997.

Eighteen years later and computing power expanded to amazing capabilities, plus the hardware shrunk to the tiniest sizes as well.

Nano-Technology

With the advancements in 3D printing technology, it is possible to print a circuit board design at the level of nano-sized particles, which are one billionth of a meter in width. These micro circuit boards are capable of working with quantum computing and can process a trillion calculations in a very tiny space. The possibilities of this quantum computing on such a small level are astounding.

Computer Aided Design
Engineers working with the tiny circuit board design use computer aided design (CAD) programs to see what they are doing in a larger scale. Once the design is complete, they send the software instructions to the 3D printer to make the printed circuit board a reality, even if it is smaller than can be seen with an electron microscope. The possibilities of working with items that are so functional and so small are amazing. This means that tiny robots can be everywhere in the future.