And also to copy the words of Chief of State Fitzgerald... what happens when they go haywire? Are we to suffer another droid revolt with OUR ships, OUR weapons, and OUR supplies? Until we have the frontlines cleared, I will not allow droids to simply take over everything. No. I'm sure many of my colluges will agree with me when we say we need patriotic soldiers... not droids just programed to do our fighting. Because then victory on the battlefield would be a simple game of chess. I oppose this.

Exar Ray
Senator of Dantooine

As great as it sounds in automation of the New Republic Military, I must say I am strongly opposed to this. I appreciate your ideas of reducing the loss of lives. However, what is to say we won't have another "Great Droid Revolution" on our hands like the Chief of State have mentioned? The droids could be useful, but it could work as a big disadvantage against us. Let me tell you a story, there was a terrible conflict fought between the millions of clones and droids. Obviously, it was the Republic fighting against the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Which one of your people, former Senator Viceroy Gunray, have supplied with an army almost full of droids. But the Confederacy lost the war not because there was no leaders, but because the droids were shut down. That left the Confederacy with basically no army to use, and it screwed them up.

It's an incident I do not wish to happen to the New Republic. The battlefield is better fought with actual soldiers with a deep loyalty to the New Republic, not machine without feelings and consideration of what the outcome might be.

Tremaine Fowlkes,
Senator of Mowgle

Therefore, I agree with the other senators in their opposition to your proposal.

Ilanah Thanatos
Senator of Chandrila

But do not get me wrong, I am not proposing turfing out every single New Republic Military member overnight, or by replacing them exclusively with machines.

I propose a slow mechanisation, over perhaps a pair of decades. Also, do not get me wrong, I dont propose replacing the people of the New Republic Military with the mindless killing machines used by my own people in the Clone Wars, rather a sentient machine with a strong sense of the value of sentient life. I would also suggest caution against the argument "what if it was hacked into", organic minds are equally falliable to mechanical ones, and equally as easily manipulated. For example, the Emperors solidification of control throughout the Galaxy was akin to a slice into a digital system, but atleast with an intelligent machine, or a bank of them co-operating, would would be more likely to realise the others were having problems.

I would also like to add such an AI would of course be under Senatorial Oversight.

While I will detail my policy in detail later, I would like to request it not be straw-manned before I can propose it.

Added (12 Jan 2009, 7:27 Pm)
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I would propose the following implementation, bear in mind this is a vague guide. Also bear in mind the AI would not be designed along the lines of any previous war machine. Any previous revolutions have been simply because AI have been designed along the wrong lines, if a machine is programmed to be a benevolent guardian, that is what it will do.

To make the argument "machines have operated badly before" is a very poor argument to make, sure, we can all quote examples where machines have committed atrocities, but I hate to admit that I can quote vastly more examples where organics have committed them. The fact remains, that just like us, machines can evolve, adapt, learn, improve, and to draw a parralel between any hypothetical military computer and IG-88 rebellions is like drawing a paralel between Grand Moff Tarkin and Admiral Ackbar because they are both organic. What matters is what is inside, in essense their 'programming', the only advantage to be enjoyed is that with digital life forms we can control the circumstances of creation, growth, learning far better than organics, and edit or remove negative aspects.

Present day: Research into what would be required to create a sentient AI with a sense of value for life etc. Research into self-replicating ships/war units. Field testing of AI units and ships in an experimental capacity. Research into organic-mechanical integration within ships.

5 years: The first fully active service AI units come into service. The NRDF begins to reduce recruitment. Pending senatorial review of the project.

10 years: The AI section of the military should be self sustaining by this stage. Recruitment is limited to supervisors and moral advisors for AI staff.

20 years: The AI section of the military now makes up 50% of the whole military. Senatorial review as to the effectiveness and value of the project.

30 years: The AI section of the military now stands at full strength of the military, ships are mothballed as their crews age, as crew retire younger crewmembers consolidated aboard remaining vessels and units.

40 years: The organic portion of the military should now largely be at retirement age, and remaining units formed into exploration units and used to explore the parts of the galaxy not yet cartographed.

50 years: Remaining organic personnell limited to integrated organics acting within AIs as "safety restraints", making sure the AI acts humanely and takes into account organic issues etc. Remaining NRDF forces retired. Ships left over largely recycled into AI vessels and units.

What I am trying to say is this. Although it does seem like a great idea, are we willing to compromise the integrity of the Republic in order to allow the machines to take our place? My vote on the matter still stands.

Tremaine Fowlkes,
Senator of Mowgle

Your argument, while on the face of it logical is essentially flawed in one real way, you underestimate the capacity of machines to learn, improvise, adapt and overcome. If an AI learns that one particular strategy is innefective, another strategy would be used, if a weapon was innefective, another would be used... An artificial intelligence would also be vastly better at gaugeing what form of attack would be effective and at applying such an attack in the most efficient way.

I would also hasten to add that the remnant would be defeated fairly soon in this project, especially if the current strong action is taken. And I would hasten to add not having an army is not without precedent, as the Old Republic ran for thousands of years without any military at all.

Senator Cambrist,

I would like to probe your argument somewhat. Saying "machines are vunerable to Ion cannons" is essentially true, however, it makes as much sense as saying "Humans are vunerable to turbolasers"... Yes, machines can be damaged by Ion cannons, but I see no reason this would make them any more ineffective than current vessels which also have those weaknesses, and ones, which I hasten to add are easily remedied by redundant systems and reserve systems.. I would also hasten to add, that the current vessels in service operate by a co-operation of organic and machine, and require both to function, how for example is a disabled ship with organics on better off? The ship is still disabled.

I also firmly believe that over the next 50 years shielding would be developed to largely repulse Ion fire, or machines not effected in the same way by it.

Also, if we consider, the AI might possibly be some kind of organic machine, which would negate much of the Ion cannon argument anyway.

Exar Ray
Senator of Dantooine

Such a mechanical being could potentially be sliced, yes (although security measures could circumvent this to a better extent than we can protect the say blackmail of a few senior commanders, or other coercion of organics). I would disagree with your assertion that a machine fights worse when doom is apparent or when damage is inflicted. I would also add that you can design a system almost impossible to slice, hence even the best of the Old Republic did not slice the Droid Master Control Signal throughout the whole clone wars!

For example, and just as an example, take a Magna guard droid, a fairly old piece of technology, with basic AI, when damaged, it will figh on, even to the end, fighting even without head, arms, legs... until it is completely disassembled.

Take for example a human, and remove a limb, it loses more than 80 percent of its fighting capacity in the short term.. remove a limb from the droid I mention, and it stays fighting at almost 80% capacity. Artificial intelligences do not feel pain, they do not feel fear..

The argument that a robot can suddenly have an error and break, is perhaps correct, but equally, so can a human, a heart can stop beating, a cancer can develop.. organics. However, with a machine parts can be repaired infinately, replacements easily put in in seconds. And also with droids we eliminate the element of chance from the equation in terms of accidents etc, machines do not trip over, get ill, etc.

Shields designed to repulse Ion fire as effectively as normal fire do actually currently exist in the form of remodulating normal shields, however with the advances in technology it seems likely that a system will be developed equally able to deflect both without remodulation.

As for being able to repair vessels Mr Cambrist, some droids inactive and triggered to come active when the other systems are de-activated by a simple switch is very possible and a practical way to repair systems disabled.

I would highlight that the ships of the CIS in the clone wars were in some cases almost completely automated and were in most cases atleast fairly effective, even with older technology.

As for the communications systems being knocked out, if each vessel is fitted with a copy of the same AI, they should all logically know how the other vessels will act if communication is cut, and still function. Also possibly this can be cirumvented by having backup comms etc.

"It seems like a grand idea, and I fully like it from a humanistic--if I may be so bold to use the term--perspective. However, dealing at it from a perspective with which Representative Loran would appreciate, one must consider that the price cost--which I believe several Senators have illustrated already--would be rather large and encumbering for such an endeavor. Furthermore, it doesn't seem prudent to leave so many out of their jobs simply to replace their lives. Or perhaps I am mistaken? I will support such a bill provided that the Senator from Neimoidia can efficiently placate the following items to such a degree that is satisfactory to this assembly, and myself:

• The minimization of job loss due to the transformation of the fleet, partial or impartial, into automaton hands
  
• The minimization of those industries that would have to shift there focus from vessel parts used for organic inhabitants
  
• The price tag, roughly, of such an endeavor
  
• A possible route for which to fund such a project
  
• and finally, the overall time that such a project would take to be functional to it's full extent.

Following those items, I would like to stipulate that if we indeed decide to convert out fleet, what possible tactical advantage would we be offering to the Remnant in our moment of weakness. Can we support even a third of our fleet going into overhaul at the moment? I believe, in my firm opinion, that this project is too grandiose in it's scope to be attempted by the New Republic, and it's affects too large and burdening for this chamber to possibly consider at this time. Perhaps it would be better to address, or redress, the issue at a time of peace, when the tyranny of the Imperial era finally closes."

You say that the Old Republic did not slice the Droid Master Control Signal throughout the entire Clone Wars. They don't have to, the clone troopers have clearly showed that they are superior to the battle droids. The Old Republic were able to defeat the Confederacy by fighting along several battlefields. What if the enemy, Imperial Remnant or some other faction, were able to do what the clones did? Then we are screwed up. Senator Kruus, you want us to replace sentients with droids, at what cost?

I believe we do not need to compromise the integrity of the Republic, by replacing the soldiers of our pride with droids without emotions. I do not believe we should replace deep loyalty with programming. I do not believe we should replace unorthodox thinking with predictable analysis that machines does. If I was a soldier and was stuck in a foxhole, which would I rather be stuck with? A sentient being or a droid? I would feel a lot safer knowing I have someone there with me, that I am able to put trust into.

Tremaine Fowlkes,
Senator of Mowgle

On the other hand I will reply to Mr Fowles directly...

Droids can perform any function an organic can perform in an equal or superior way. I believe that if you took a high end cybot galactica model and gave it the job of say giving the news of a family death it would do it in a sensitive and consoling manner. The crux of the matter remains that organics are simply complicated machines made from cells instead of microchips, and just as one can be genetically modifyied for a pupose, a droid can be programmed for one...

Your argument that "the Republic did not need to disable the droid control signal, because the clones could beat the anyway" is very ignorant and foolish, no general, no jedi and no politician at the time would make the argument, all that was beeing looked for was a swift end to a brutal war, one where millions died daily, and the best minds of the Republic could not hack the CIS computers.

I am not proposing introducing an army of mindless zombies as the B1 droid was... and even a mindless Zombie as the B1 was, it was effective in certain circumstances or with excellent generals.. I am proposing a cohesive army of semi-sentient, intelligent efficient fighting machines, not something akin to a slow walking skeleton with a blaster.

I would finish withexplaining to Mr Fowlkes, loyalty, is a kind of programming, in organics, it is spawned by chemical reactions within a complex system, one that can be mapped and predicted... It is clichee to say a machine will act predictably... an organic can just as easily be predicted in his actions if you are able to study him in enough detail as any droid. There is no reason why a suitably programmed AI could not think outside the box in ways organics have not yet.

If I was a soldier, stuck in a fox hole, I would rather be stuck with someone who would fight alongside me, and defend my life to the last, than organic who would prioritise his own life over mine.. A loyal companion who would lay down his life without question, who can aim true at a thousand paces, who can out wrestle a wookiee... who could carry me a thousand miles and not tire... Mr Fowlkes, loyalty is just anothr kind of programming, and it is precisely the kind of tunnel thinking that organic and mechanical are seperate that is holding us back.