Autonomous things are basically electronic devices/components that are connected through the Internet of Things (IoT) network and equipped with artificial intelligence technology which provides them a different understanding of the physical environment and its surroundings. The first example of autonomous devices albeit in a limited amount was showcased as autonomous things in military warfare. These “things” have been portrayed with a different point of view in various forms of fictional adaptation in comparison to the way they are being developed generally in the real world. Autonomous weapons in simple terms are weapons or devices that operate and defend the territory assigned to them or their immediate surroundings, sometimes these weapons are assigned to a human supervisor that has the ability to turn them off or on. These robots also have the capability of taking care of several humanized military actions such as, search & rescue, surveillance, aggressive offensive actions or even defending their posts. These weapons have impacted and transformed the life of soldiers working in the army as they have replaced them from the battlefield and out of harm’s way. These weapons are classified on the basis of their functioning and operations. These autonomous weapons are generally categorized as unmanned aerial drones, unmanned ground vehicles, defensive sentry. There has been a widespread usage of autonomous drones in military operations for surveillance, bombings, bomb disposals and other actions. Although, technically these drones are not completely autonomous as they require a human supervisor to provide them with commands and operate. Future drones that are in development on demand from the military forces of different regions can be defined as those devices that operate without any human interference and can partake in the decision making process by themselves through the analyzation of data generated and captured through the sensors and technology available at their disposal. The current trends of autonomous things in military applications underway are backed due to the focus on development of deep machine learning and artificial intelligence, the development of these technologies have caused an increase in the capabilities of autonomous things, they are capable of making decisions in the tenth of a second in comparison to the humans which will improve the effectiveness of these weapons in the battlefield, although they prove to be very costly pieces of equipment but in the long run they will prove to be cost-efficient, as they prevent the loss of human lives, provide prevention against acts of terrorism and many other life-altering instances. For example – In March 2019, The U.S. Air Force announced that they are focusing on the development and progress of their “Skyborg” program from the artificial intelligence industry, so that they can utilize and unlock the true potential of unscrewed AI-powered drones, which they plan on utilizing in combat and non-combat applications. The United States air force is focusing on building a fleet of drones and having them operational by 2023. Conclusion The technological advancements and emergence of even more destructive tools globally have been caused by the development of autonomous technology and an increase in their applications. We have seen a different mindset being developed in the global population regarding the weapons of mass destruction as they instill a sense of fear in the armies and innocents. And the current development of autonomous weapons have been to defend against the offensive autonomous weapons available, so the main concern is what will be the impact of this rampant growth in applications of autonomous things, and how far will this advancement of autonomous weapons go to.
