I disagree strongly. (it depends on the size of the drone army, and what sort of people they are.)
Drone army can probably be approximated as a slavishly loyal human army
Terrorists would probably go for the nuke if they thought it achievable.
Rouge states are probably more dangerous with a (large, robust) drone army because it can reduce the ability of a human military to revolt, and possibly do other things.
What do you disagree strongly with? My speculation that you would need fewer people to control them? I’m not sure about that so if you can bring in a good argument you can change my view on that.
Terrorists are not our problem (in general and in this specific state). Terrorists with nukes cannot feasably control a country with them.
I am talking about people that have easy access to drones and want to control a country with them. Traditional totalitarian techniques plus drones is what I am really worried about, not terrorists.
So I admit that with “a few people with drones vs. nukes” I thought about a (close to) worst case. Obviously some low tech terrorists in Afghanistan are not a real substantial problem when they control drones, but high military officials with power fantasies are.
Of course rouge states with drones are even more dangerous...
I think a rogue state with drones is about as dangerous as a rogue state with a well-equipped army. (note: all of this pretty much assumes something like the next ten to fifty years of physical tech, and that drone AIs are very focused. If AI supertech or extremely tiny deadly drones come into it, it gets much worse.)
I think that drone armies compared to human armies are better for short-term slavish loyalty (including cases where the chain of command is broken). However, unless they are controlled by a stable, central entity (such as the case where a tyrant uses a drone army to suppress rebellion) with all the infrastructure then maintenance and a wide variety of other issues start to become a big problem.
You might get some Napoleons.
I also think that drones are likely to be poor substitutes for infantry out of actual combat.
I disagree strongly. (it depends on the size of the drone army, and what sort of people they are.)
Drone army can probably be approximated as a slavishly loyal human army
Terrorists would probably go for the nuke if they thought it achievable.
Rouge states are probably more dangerous with a (large, robust) drone army because it can reduce the ability of a human military to revolt, and possibly do other things.
What do you disagree strongly with? My speculation that you would need fewer people to control them? I’m not sure about that so if you can bring in a good argument you can change my view on that.
Terrorists are not our problem (in general and in this specific state). Terrorists with nukes cannot feasably control a country with them.
I am talking about people that have easy access to drones and want to control a country with them. Traditional totalitarian techniques plus drones is what I am really worried about, not terrorists.
So I admit that with “a few people with drones vs. nukes” I thought about a (close to) worst case. Obviously some low tech terrorists in Afghanistan are not a real substantial problem when they control drones, but high military officials with power fantasies are. Of course rouge states with drones are even more dangerous...
I think a rogue state with drones is about as dangerous as a rogue state with a well-equipped army. (note: all of this pretty much assumes something like the next ten to fifty years of physical tech, and that drone AIs are very focused. If AI supertech or extremely tiny deadly drones come into it, it gets much worse.)
I think that drone armies compared to human armies are better for short-term slavish loyalty (including cases where the chain of command is broken). However, unless they are controlled by a stable, central entity (such as the case where a tyrant uses a drone army to suppress rebellion) with all the infrastructure then maintenance and a wide variety of other issues start to become a big problem.
You might get some Napoleons.
I also think that drones are likely to be poor substitutes for infantry out of actual combat.