If you're worried that the army of the future is going to be dominated by robots and human soldiers will play an increasingly fringe role you shouldn't be, officials have said.
A recent study found that more than a fifth of the British public think future wars could be fought with only robots on the battlefield.
Meanwhile, a similar proportion say science fiction films and TV shows featuring robots make them feel worried about a potential rise of the machines in the future.
The British Army's new recruitment campaign, 'Nothing Can Do What A Soldier Can Do' is aiming to bust some of these growing myths and ensure people know soldiers are still the most important part of military operations.
Colonel Nick Mackenzie explained that a big impetus behind the campaign was to get the message out that the army is still recruiting.
He also suggested that the army’s main target audience for recruitment, 18 to 34 year olds, may be getting the wrong idea about the future of the army from science fiction and popular culture.
Colonel Mackenzie said he thought there was a 'perception' that 'the world is going to be taken over by robots and AI', which thankfully doesn’t seem to be the case as robots taking over the world usually dispense with their human creators which is bad news for us.
While robots and technology are incredibly important to the British Army now and will continue to be in the future, he was keen to stress that there was always a person 'at the end of every bit of equipment'.
Fortunately, even as technology and what it can offer to army operations develops it will still be human hands at the controls and human minds making the decisions.
The British Army’s goal is to be 'as modern and technologically savvy' as possible while still maintaining human control of operations.
Last year the British Army launched their concept of the 'Future Soldier', laying out their vision of modernising the armed forces up until 2030.
The goal is for a regular army of 73,000 personnel backed up by a reserve force of 30,100, while introducing a fully modernised fleet of digitised fighting vehicles.
While that represents a downsizing in personnel, the army is aiming for robots to help maintain the same level of capability as they can augment what a soldier can do on operations.
Despite the intended downsizing, the army are still looking for fresh recruits as current personnel retire from the armed forces.
The introduction of more modern training methods will allow the army to train globally, all while making better use of augmented and virtual reality in training methods.
Beyond 2030 is less clear, as Colonel Mackenzie suggested that after the end of this decade was 'crystal ball' territory thanks to the unknown elements of technological development.
While the potential technological advances in years to come make the next decade an uncertain one, Colonel Mackenzie stressed that there would always be situations that needed the human touch.
He said: "I think you'll recall last year those iconic pictures of the soldier being handed a baby over the fence at Kabul International Airport.
"You know, you can be technologically proficient but ultimately that sort of empathy, wit, that sort of thing that soldiers are well known for means trust plays a fundamental part for any soldier on operations."
Even as robots and robotic technologies become more important to army operations the campaign is keen to stress that people are still the beating heart of Britain's defence.
Colonel Mackenzie addressed the possible daunting nature of joining the army only to be surrounded by the most advanced gizmos and gadgets in the world.
He said: "As technology comes into being in the Army, we will equip people with the training that's needed to operate that equipment.
"And it’s no different than using a new weapon system that's been introduced, we give people the training, so our entry standards have not changed."
"Ultimately, people shouldn't worry, we will provide the training, we don't expect trained soldiers and trained cyber warfare operators to come in from the get go, we'll train them to do that."
Lance Corporal Amy Dixon of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers explained that even as robotics come to play a more prominent role in the British Army there’s always going to be a need for people to bring the 'empathy and sympathy' of a human to the table.
Robots are already changing the world around us and she said 'we have to change with it' while maintaining the 'human element' to maintain and control them.
She said: "You'll always have supporting elements with when it comes to technology, just to make things easier and make things safer to save lives essentially.
"But you've always got to have that soldier on the front line, because robots can't make snap decisions."
One military figure who has previously looked into that crystal ball and suggested what the future of the army could look like beyond 2030 is former chief of the defence staff General Sir Nick Carter.
In 2020 he suggested that from the next decade onwards the army could use thousands of 'robot soldiers' to work alongside human personnel.
While he didn’t want to put possible numbers on how many of these theoretical 'robot soldiers' could serve alongside human troops, he did say an 'armed forces that is designed for the 2030s' had to consider what role they would play.
The Ministry of Defence stressed at the time that any occasion a weapon was being fired would still require a human to make the final decision to pull the trigger.
The idea that a weapon would take itself onto the battlefield and start firing without human involvement at any stage of the process is thankfully still just a myth.
Featured Image Credit: British Army
Joe Harker