Science Gone Wrong: The Robot Future Is Closer Than You Think

It's a plotline straight out of the Terminator films: a highly evolved computer program controlling U.S. government weaponry goes rogue, defies its human masters, and sets out to exterminate all of humanity. Think it's just fiction? While humankind has yet to suffer a Judgment Day-style nuclear holocaust, the U.S. Air Force battled its own sentient SkyNet adversary this week when an MQ-9 Reaper combat drone broke free from human control during a mission over Afghanistan. The unmanned aerial vehicle, charmingly classified as a "hunter-killer," had to be shot down by a manned aircraft before it continued on its merry way – headed, according to an Air Force press release, "on a course that would depart Afghanistan airspace."

Now, I'm no weaponry expert, but I'm certain of one thing: that's not supposed to happen. Like, ever. Sure, technology goes awry from time to time, but only in the movies, right? Maybe not. Below, we pick five fictional pieces of movie science with actual real-world counterparts, and the terrifying implications that they bring for the future of humanity.
Movie science: The artificial intelligence computer system known as SkyNet becomes self-aware and gains control of the world's technology, which it uses to eliminate humankind.

As seen in: The Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Terminator Salvation)

Real life: Last Sunday, the United States Air Force reported that it had shot down one of its own combat Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), specifically an MQ-9 Reaper, when control of the UAV became compromised in the skies above Afghanistan. The machine's controller had lost "positive control," or as U.S. Air Force Public Affairs representative Staff Sgt. Vernon J. Cunningham explained to us via email, "the ability for the operator to both receive data from the UAV and also send control inputs to the remotely-piloted vehicle."

As the Reaper continued on its original course and threatened to cross international borders – ostensibly loaded with some of its maximum payload capacity, which can carry up to thousands of pounds of munitions including laser-guided bombs and missiles – a piloted Air Force aircraft "took proactive measures" to disable the craft, which then hit the side of a mountain with no reported casualties. (Thank you to The Register for picking up on the story.)

In case you feel secure in the fact that the Reaper incident occurred halfway around the world, know this: in addition to the 28 Reapers, 195 earlier-generation Predators, and 5,000+ other drone crafts employed by the United States military, similar UAVs are used for surveillance, border patrol, firefighting, and rescue efforts...right here at home.



Movie science: Scientists design humanoid androids to mimic human behavior and emotions; s**t gets real.

As seen in: A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, I, Robot

Real life: Canadian inventor Le Trung set out to create a robot aide for old folks, but ended up keeping the result for himself. One look and you can see why: Aiko the Android is a hottie! With a slim build, milky-perfect (silicone) skin, and a 13,000-word vocabulary, Aiko is a smart cookie. Even creepier, she's meant to be touched, and can decide how she "feels" depending on her physical interactions. Of course, there's one thing we all want to know...is she built anatomically? Though he swears to her maiden honor, Trung has admitted that she's all woman, naughty bits and all. What's more, he told The Sun, "Her software could be redesigned to simulate her having an orgasm." (Robot sex...would you give it a spin?) To cap this contribution to weird science, Trung offered a feminist-baiting parting thought. "Aiko doesn't need holidays, food or rest, and will work almost 24 hours a day. She is the perfect woman." Uh, right. We don't need any more people populating the world with real-life fem-bots. I live in LA!



Movie science: In the future, people spend their lives playing electronic games that allow them to live vicariously through other humans, or avatars, who give full control of their bodies and actions to the controller. As a result, said players become socially isolated, morally bankrupt, and way, way, pale.

As seen in: Gamer

Real life: Those of you who've seen Neveldine + Taylor's Gamer have, sadly, seen the future. Well, it's also the present for the 11million and counting gamers who live vicariously through fantasy characters of their own design...and that's just in World of Warcraft alone. The phenomenon known as Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPG) is nothing new, and I'm willing to bet that if you're reading this, you know someone who moonlights as a Blood Elf Paladin – then again, if you can't spot the nerd at the table, the nerd is probably you. Either way, role-playing game culture is so deeply ingrained in the zeitgeist that it's bound to progress to the next level in no time, so keep farming that gold and you'll be in prime position to play Sims for real in the near future.



Movie science: Genetically-ideal babies are engineered to possess the most desirable traits in their DNA, leading to class discrimination against those conceived naturally or who suffer from genetic imperfections such as myopia, or looking like Ethan Hawke.

As seen in: Gattaca

Real life: Farmers breed plants and animals to produce the best-possible features and health, so why is the selective production of human offspring frowned upon? It might have something to do with the nasty history of eugenics, in which undesirable traits were forcefully sterilized by the likes of the Nazi regime. But the idea of voluntary eugenics is a horse of a different color, especially to fertility doctors who offer aspiring parents the chance to choose the gender of their baby. While docs have been able to separate sperm samples into X and Y chromosomes for decades, a new and more controversial practice has bumped the efficacy rate – and the implementation costs – considerably. Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) is a process of embryo screening used primarily to detect possible birth defects, but in recent years it's become popular for the more superficial purpose of shopping for one gender or the other. And while you may or may not agree on the ethics of such premeditated parenting, know this: PGD is precisely the method used to breed perfect children in Gattaca, and plenty of them grew up unhappy. Just ask Jude Law.



Movie science: Robot cops patrol the streets of the world, impervious to dangers that would otherwise injure human officers. But what if something goes wrong?

As seen in: RoboCop, RoboCop 2, RoboCop 3

Real life: In a recent study from the University of Sheffield (commissioned by Warner Bros. to commemorate their now-defunct series The Sarah Connor Chronicles, so read with a grain of salt), robotics and artificial intelligence professor Noel Sharkey predicts that within 75 years, robot cops and unmanned police cars will patrol streets in the U.K. (Rudimentary versions are already in use in Asia.) The benefits to such a thing are a no-brainer; android officers, which Sharkey thinks will have "human-like features and expressions," could stand-in for humans in dangerous situations, thus reducing potential harm to real people. Those autonomous cop cars, he says, might be able to detect sobriety tests and instantly fine errant drivers. Great! The only drawback, he adds, is the loss of privacy that might come from robot cops analyzing your bank information, personal records, and location information in a single glance – and, we must add, their potential vulnerability to giant electromagnets!


So there you have it. Plan ahead accordingly. And tell us what you think – are you freaked out by the futuristic technologies that are jumping off the screen, right into our own real world?