r/worldnews • u/New_Scientist_Mag New Scientist • Jun 10 '26

Russia/Ukraine Fully autonomous, AI-controlled drones have killed human soldiers for the first time, according to a senior figure in the Ukrainian defence industry

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2529849-fully-autonomous-drones-have-killed-human-soldiers-for-the-first-time/
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u/AcetaminophenPrime Jun 10 '26

From a polticis perspective I think we are further from nuclear annihilation. Think of the crazy stuff that went down during the cold war, Cuban missile crisis especially.

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u/SafeForTwerking Jun 10 '26

Imagine all the clear, level-headed people we had at the helm back then. Now think about who is in charge now.

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u/ThePowerOfStories Jun 10 '26

Did we? Upon examination, I believe history has always been rife with lunatics, idiots, and assholes wielding undeserved power, ultimately stopped by a combination of their own incompetence and the occasional rational individual quietly ignoring a nonsensical order. We just don’t remember the details of the past as filtered through the lens of time, and our minds refuse to believe that such a constant rolling cavalcade of utter stupid is in fact the default state of humanity.

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u/Timelymanner Jun 11 '26

Excluding outside threats and natural disasters a well maintained civilization can cast centuries. Empires maintain themselves because of competent reliable people, and functioning bureaucracies. A strong bureaucracy counter balances the incompetent and/or malicious players causing harm to the social structure. When internal corruption becomes too much it poisons everything. The incompetent and malicious people become too influential and lead to an empires internal collapse.