DoD Seeks Software to Trick Soldier’s Kids Into Believing They are Talking to Their Parents »
Posted By jovial 10 months, 3 weeks ago in Family
The Department of Defense is soliciting proposals for a computer program that would allow small children whose parents are in Iraq or Afghanistan to “interact” with a virtual version of their missing parent. It is a poor substitute for the real thing, but the US government is hoping a “virtual parent” could provide emotional support for the children of servicemen and women while they are away on active duty.
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jovial
Grew up In Brooklyn. Joined the Navy in 1976 stayed in 10 years. Aircraft Electronics tech. Worked for Major Govt. contractor then settled in California ...
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Tangent00110 months, 3 weeks ago
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They will know. If not now then eventually, and the parents will pay.
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War has consequences that can't be 'made up' with virtual simulacrums. It seems the DOD simply wants to delay the impact. Think about it, what will happen to the child who eventually discovers their 'dad' or 'mom' was a program engineered by the government?
Do I trust the DOD not to inject pro-military messages? Do you?
I thought this was a hoax, but you can follow the links to an actual program. The scary part is the lack of input from the deployed parent. There is NO discussion of it.
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Candida10 months, 3 weeks ago
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I agree that this is a bad idea, and not just because a lot of things can go wrong. It's completely unethical. Even small children deserve to know the truth. How can we expect them to trust adults if we lie to them all the time?
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Now if the DoD could somehow make it possible for them to actually talk to their parents once in a while, that would be a completely different matter.
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hyperbola10 months, 3 weeks ago
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The Pentagon has far too much money. Time to cut it in half.
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The Pentagon is muscling in everywhere.
We no longer have a civilian-led government. It is hard for a lifelong Republican and son of a retired Air Force colonel to say this, but the most unnerving legacy of the Bush administration is the encroachment of the Department of Defense into a striking number of aspects of civilian government. Our Constitution is at risk.....
http://www.propeller.com/story/2008/12/22/the-pent... -
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DarkWizard10 months, 3 weeks ago
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Aren't the lines of reality blurred enough for children (let alone adults)? A virtual parent is really just a lie. I can see some definite psychological issues developing from this scenario!
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Of course, I may be looking at this wrong. Virtual mom or dad may be a whole lot better than the real deal! For that matter, virtual husband or wife may be the ticket! The Outer Limits and the Twilight Zone have nothing on our ever lovin' government. -
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CRYMTYPHON10 months, 3 weeks ago
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I have to admit, as soon as I heard what they wanted, - I started writing the program in my head.
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It could be done.
But it would be evil.
No love is communcated by a fraud.
There is no meaning in assigning AI to express human contact.
Better to sincerely miss your mother or father, folding your life around their absence,
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doctorporComment removed: Hard Banned
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StevieGee10 months, 3 weeks ago
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This thing is just another attempt by the government to sanitize war. Tricking small children into believing that a parent is only as far away as the computer. At the same time it's probably loaded with government propaganda to further train the masses. Obama should scrap this one.
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mrreality10 months, 3 weeks ago
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you guys are kidding,,why not,,hell the media created the illusion that a black muslim with a racist wife, with friends like louis farrakahn and william ayers is actually what america needs to gain respect in the world,,,why would you have a problem with deception,,its been a steady part of the lefts diet since roosevelt convinced america,,enslaving the taxpayers for minorities ills would save the country,,,kind of like lincoln being hailed as a great president when in fact he was the most oppressive of all,,hell he attacked his own countrymen,,i guess you now know why mao tse obama choose to emulate him,,,
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jovial10 months, 3 weeks ago
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You're just kidding yourself, we aren't fooled anymore! The Media made us believe that going into Iraq was what was good for this country and people like you were duped easily into falling for it. Now you're saying we are the ones that got duped. I pray one day you awaken from your deep slumber. Want to talk about associations to a President you elected. Let's talk about the Saudi prince, Perle, Wolfowitz, Cheney, and a host of other neoconservatives that were hell bent on destroying things and making profit and power for the elite few. Your ignorance has no bounds, does it?
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jovial10 months, 3 weeks ago
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Show me the good it did for this country. Show me the financial figures. Show me that radicalism has been lessened, my sleepy one. Guess what, Jimdoze. Doze being part of your moniker. Instead of catching Bin Laden, and stabilizing Afghanistan, we have to go in there now and do it. Knucklehead media on Fox and the last administration tried to make all of us believe that Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda were in Iraq. That Iraq had WMD and was going to launch an attack against the U.S. Bullhockey, nonsense, and stupidity. I expect more from the people leading our military and the idiots that failed to do the research to see through this.
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FredSmilek10 months, 3 weeks ago
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very sad to see this, cant the DOD come up with anything better than to trick children, oh wait that is what the DOD is good at !! Lying.
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Fred Smilek
Fred Smilek is the acting president of the Society to Save Endangered Species. Fred Smilek along with his dedicated team is making strides each and every day towards their ultimate goal which is the protection of endangered species.
http://sites.google.com/site/fredjsmilek/ -
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Charlson10 months, 3 weeks ago
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I grew up as a Army brat and I can see more harm than good from this program. If you don't have direct contact with your parents stationed in a war zone then what good is it? I remember writing and receiving letters from my father and let me say that I would know if someone else had written to me instead of him and would have been devastated.
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willottica10 months, 3 weeks ago
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This is great! Once they've perfected the technology for this, they can start to use it in orphanages and convince children that their parents are alive, well, and love them. And then once that's up and running, they can just start taking children away from their parents, raising them in sterile institutions or 'boarding schools' where they indoctrinate them whilst pretending their parents are behind it 100%!
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If this works, there's some excellent sci-fi (let's hope it doesn't become sci-hi) in the making.
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