Acceptable loss

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An acceptable loss, also known as acceptable damage or acceptable casualties, is a military euphemism used to indicate casualties or destruction inflicted by the enemy that is considered minor or tolerable. [1] In combat situations, leaders have to often choose between options where no one solution is perfect and all choices will lead to casualties or other costs to their own troops. [2]

A small scale practical example might be when the advancement of troops is halted by a minefield. In many military operations, the speed of advancement is more important than the safety of troops. Thus, the minefield must be "breached" even if this means some casualties. [3]

On a larger strategic level, there is a limit to how many casualties a nation's military or the public are willing to withstand when they go to war. For example, there is an ongoing debate on how the conceptions of acceptable losses affect how the United States conducts its military operations. [4]

The concept of acceptable losses has also been adopted to business use, meaning taking necessary risks [5] and the general costs of doing business, also covered with terms such as waste or shrinkage. [6]

The euphemism is related to the concept of acceptable risk, which is used in many areas such as medicine and politics, to describe a situation where a course of action is taken because the expected benefits outweigh the potential hazards. [7]

See also

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Land mine</span> Explosive weapon, concealed under or on the ground

A land mine, or landmine, is an explosive weapon concealed under or camouflaged on the ground, and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets, ranging from combatants to vehicles and tanks, as they pass over or near it.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Collateral damage</span> Damage to things that are incidental to the intended target

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Automation</span> Use of various control systems for operating equipment

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">James S. Albus</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inverse kinematics</span> Computing joint values of a kinematic chain from a known end position

In computer animation and robotics, inverse kinematics is the mathematical process of calculating the variable joint parameters needed to place the end of a kinematic chain, such as a robot manipulator or animation character's skeleton, in a given position and orientation relative to the start of the chain. Given joint parameters, the position and orientation of the chain's end, e.g. the hand of the character or robot, can typically be calculated directly using multiple applications of trigonometric formulas, a process known as forward kinematics. However, the reverse operation is, in general, much more challenging.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anti-tank mine</span> Type of land mine designed to destroy tanks

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Motion estimation</span> Process used in video coding/compression

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demining</span> Process of removing land mines

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The Battle of Cuito Cuanavale was fought intermittently between 14 August 1987 and 23 March 1988, south and east of the town of Cuito Cuanavale, Angola, by the People's Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola (FAPLA) and advisors and soldiers from Cuba, USSR, Vietnam, ANC and SWAPO against South Africa, and soldiers of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) during the Angolan Civil War and South African Border War. The battle was the largest engagement of the Angolan conflict and the biggest conventional battle on the African continent since World War II. UNITA and its South African allies defeated a major FAPLA offensive towards Mavinga, preserving the former's control of southern Angola. They proceeded to launch a failed counteroffensive on FAPLA defensive positions around the Tumpo River east of Cuito Cuanavale.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to artificial intelligence:

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Wright (British Army soldier)</span> Soldier in the British Army and a recipient of the George Cross

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The ethics of artificial intelligence is the branch of the ethics of technology specific to artificial intelligence (AI) systems.

Ernest Lenard (Ernie) Hall, PhD, PE, is Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering and Computer Science in the School of Dynamic Systems in the College of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Cincinnati. He was also the Paul E. Geier Professor of Robotics in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Cincinnati. He has also held joint appointments at the University of Cincinnati with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Computer Science. He regularly collaborates with faculty and students in other colleges at University of Cincinnati, as well as civic groups, including the FIRST Lego League, the Ohio Academy of Science, and the Society of Manufacturing Engineers. While consulting with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, he became interested in efforts to make useful robots for some of the dangerous tasks encountered by the Department of Energy, Department of Defense and NASA. He noted the importance of combining image processing algorithms with manipulators and controller to build intelligent robots, especially in automatic target recognition. He has founded and has co-chaired an annual conference on Intelligent Robots and Computer Vision for the past 25 years to provide a forum for new innovations in this field. He sits as the first Paul. E. Geier Professor of Robotics at the University of Cincinnati. At the University of Cincinnati, he established the Center for Robotics Research, which encourages robotics activities in industry, medicine, defense, and even at home with projects like a robot lawn mower. He also founded the UC Robot Team that has participated in the Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition for the past 15 years and the DARPA Grand Challenge in 2005 and 2007. He has also served as a judge for the Cincinnati FIRST Lego League for two years and has been called the Woodie Flowers of Cincinnati for giving the Gracious Professionalism award. In 2006, Ernest L. Hall won the Grand Prize in the "Made in Express" contest sponsored by Microsoft. His entry for the contest was an all-terrain self-maneuverable robot developed using Microsoft Visual Studio Express. He donated the $10,000 cash prize from the contest back to the University of Cincinnati to support robotics.

Machine ethics is a part of the ethics of artificial intelligence concerned with adding or ensuring moral behaviors of man-made machines that use artificial intelligence, otherwise known as artificial intelligent agents. Machine ethics differs from other ethical fields related to engineering and technology. Machine ethics should not be confused with computer ethics, which focuses on human use of computers. It should also be distinguished from the philosophy of technology, which concerns itself with the grander social effects of technology.

This glossary of artificial intelligence is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to the study of artificial intelligence, its sub-disciplines, and related fields. Related glossaries include Glossary of computer science, Glossary of robotics, and Glossary of machine vision.

References

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  3. Ghaffari, Masoud; Manthena, Dinesh; Ghaffari, Alireza; Hall, Ernest L. (October 2004). "Mines and human casualties, a approach toward mine clearing". Proc. SPIE 5608, Intelligent Robots and Computer Vision XXII: Algorithms, Techniques, and Active Vision. Intelligent Robots and Computer Vision XXII: Algorithms, Techniques, and Active Vision. 5608 (306): 306. Bibcode:2004SPIE.5608..306G. doi:10.1117/12.571260. S2CID   108643385.
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  5. McManus, Gerard. "Military Precision". Australian Institute of Management. Archived from the original on 11 July 2013. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
  6. Greenstone, Richard J. (August 2001). "Acceptable Losses". The Licensing Journal. Archived from the original on 11 January 2014. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
  7. Last, John M. (2007). A Dictionary of Public Health . Oxford University Press. ISBN   9780195160901.