Weapons

Light saber Don’t think of a light saber as a laser tool. There’s nothing on the top to return the light. Instead, think of it as a plasma loop, like a chain saw, but in a magnetic field. It’s not very practical for anything except death and mayhem. * Phaser It’s like a flip phone; you need to take it out, turn it to stun, point, and shoot. Its designers couldn’t get past the concept of the handgun. * Death ray Armies around the world have been working on death rays since before World War I. Today, however, defense needs to be more discriminating, more surgically precise. Our latest wide-area munitions are like electromagnetic shocks without nuclear explosions. They are like squadrons of smart laser drones that hover to stop enemy forces. What if you could stop everything as in “The Day the Earth Stood Still” or, better, stop only violent acts? * Orion’s belt Orion’s belt defends automatically against any threat. If a villain points a weapon at you, the belt disables the weapon. If the villain threatens you with physical harm the belt makes you invisible or paralyzes the villain’s hand. The belt can put over you a dome that no force or sound may penetrate. It also zaps mosquitoes and wards off pathogens. * The moral problem Suppose Captain Kirk robbed a bank with his phaser. A locked safe would not be safe, and who could stop him? But walk into a bank wearing Orion’s belt and you might think you could take whatever you want; however, we are training the AI to consider all consequences. If the belt works as planned, it should never cause harm.