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Comment by jbstack | Hacker News Reader

Removing an internet connection doesn't really solve much when you're talking about autonomous AI-driven robots with vision and hearing. It's a whole different category to toys, refrigerators, etc. My refrigerator isn't going to suddenly pick up a weapon and start attacking things on command. Nor does it have an easy way to receive instructions through side channels. I'm not saying I agree with Trump's policy - but removing internet isn't a solution either.

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You have to realize that in a war China will use everything they can against us, including power converters (force a blackout), cars (drive-by-wire car will drive into a tree to kill a high ranking official), routers (disconnect the internet to make command and control difficult for our military). And a zillion other things.

A refrigerator could be forced to overheat and burn you house down killing you and your family. It may sound far fetched but if they believe it will help their cause they won't hesitate one second.

This issue needs to be solved once and for all NOW. Not piecemeal.

Yes, I agree. I think you misunderstood me though. I wasn't saying refrigerators aren't an attack vector. I was using them as a comparison to make the point that a policy of blocking internet access is far less effective on an autonomous robot with vision and hearing (since it can easily communicate in other ways) than for a refrigerator (where the policy actually has a good chance of disabling the attack).

You need something more than just disabling internet access if you don't want robots sourced from military rivals to remain a strong risk.

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