People are always talking about AI in terms of economic impacts (jobs, productivity, etc.), but military should be the first use-case they care/worry about.

They'll probably freak out once they finally realize the implications of cheap drones + smart AI + auto-aim guns.

Whenever I watch videos of robot dogs climbing all terrains (e.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AS1n99yruVU), I'm convinced that half of these robotics companies are defense funded, whether in the US or China.

Exactly. Robodog that costs 5K USD, which is probably less than one month of cost of the infantry soldier, and can be sent to fight in the trenches is something generals would dream of. Ukraine, that is experiencing soldiers shortage will go in that direction, at the beginning with something simple like remotely steered land drones.

> It's terrifying to think that robots like this will probably be used in the defense industry at some point

So what? Is keeping us safe a bad thing somehow? I can't get these people who reflexively think anything weapon-shaped is evil. Violence is good sometimes.