"What the fuck is this is the exact right reaction."
VICTOR TANGERMANN | FUTURISM
A new video going viral on Twitter shows a robot police dog patrolling with cops from the New York City police department.
The unit, a Spot robodog built by Boston Dynamics, can be seen going for a walk around a public sidewalk, surrounded by several police staff.Nah they really got these robot police dogs in NYC. This is wild pic.twitter.com/iG7CTPFevH
— THEE DON (@1800SPOILED) April 12, 2021
The sighting was met with outrage, with many bystanders audibly voicing their displeasure with the dystopian “Black Mirror”-like appearance.
“I ain’t never seen nothing like this in my life,” the person filming the video can be heard saying.
Renowned New York Times journalist Kara Swisher was equally appalled.
“What the fuck is this is the exact right reaction,” she tweeted in response to the video.
It’s still unclear how the NYPD is planning to make use of the robot. The video comes after several instances of police staff rolling out the robot dog in public streets.
The decision to deploy the robots was met with widespread criticism and raised privacy concerns among many earlier this year. In February, the robot was used during a Bronx home invasion to reportedly ensure that there was nobody inside, as The New York Times reported at the time.
The police have maintained that they are using the robots to save lives.
The decision to deploy the robots was met with widespread criticism and raised privacy concerns among many earlier this year. In February, the robot was used during a Bronx home invasion to reportedly ensure that there was nobody inside, as The New York Times reported at the time.
The police have maintained that they are using the robots to save lives.
Boston Dynamics has attempted to distance itself from its products being used by not only police departments around the world, but military armed forces as well.
Last week, news emerged of a French military school deploying a Spot robot dog during a two-day training exercise.
“We think that the military, to the extent that they do use robotics to take people out of harm’s way, we think that’s a perfectly valid use of the technology,” Boston Dynamics’ VP of business development Michael Perry told The Verge.
The company’s terms of service forbid the robot dog from being used to “to harm or intimidate any person or animal, as a weapon, or to enable any weapon.”
Given the latest incidents, either Boston Dynamics either has a very loose definition of the word “intimidate” — or it simply isn’t willing to enforce its terms of service.
It’s also a bad look because the NYPD already has a very shaky image in the eyes of the public. Deploying a robot dog to its front lines will likely only alienate civilians even further.
MORE:
The NYPD’s New Robot Dog Can’t Hurt Us. Yet.
In terms of functionality, the A1 robot can squat, turn and lean, and move in all directions. The dog measures 62cm in length, 30cm in width and can carry a payload of up to 5kg.
According to Unitree Robotics’ website, the robodog is equipped with gesture recognition, a multi-eye intelligent depth camera, dynamic obstacle avoidance and something called Visual SLAM, which sure sounds like a weapon of mass destruction.
The AI bot also makes for a great running companion, reaching speeds of nearly 12km/h, and it can even do backflips. And all for less than $15,000.
Naturally, the internet became a little concerned after this robot army video went viral. So Unitree Robotics felt it had to respond with… this:
Set to another Star Wars tune the video shows the BenBen model performing neat tricks and defeating the A1 robot in mock laser battles. The BenBen robot is far more striking in appearance with its vibrant paint design representing the ‘spirit of the Ox’.
I suppose this was Unitree Robotics’ attempt to show us not all robot dogs are ‘bad guys’ but now all I can see are two armies of robot dogs that could kill us.
We’ve already seen attempts to weaponise Boston Dynamics’ robot dog Spot. It’s only a matter of time before BenBen comes for us too.
MEANWHILE, in CHINA...
This Army of Robot Dogs Is Ready for World Domination
Lauren Rouse | GIZMODO
It’s all but inevitable that we will one day serve robot overlords. Not convinced? One look at this robot dog army will change your mind.
Unitree Robotics posted a video of their many robot dog companions earlier in March. Titled “The Force Awakens” the video is, of course, set to the theme music of the Imperial March from Star Wars.
I have some concerns.
How long does humanity have?
So when should we expect our robotic canine friends to dominate?
Chinese manufacturer Unitree Robotics is responsible for this terrifying force. Similar to US company Boston Dynamics, Unitree Robotics specialises in high-performance robot manufacturing.
Their robot offerings include BenBen, Aliengo, Laikago and the A1 robot which makes up the army in this video.
Lauren Rouse | GIZMODO
It’s all but inevitable that we will one day serve robot overlords. Not convinced? One look at this robot dog army will change your mind.
Unitree Robotics posted a video of their many robot dog companions earlier in March. Titled “The Force Awakens” the video is, of course, set to the theme music of the Imperial March from Star Wars.
The Force Awakens. Everyone, help count how many? 😀 pic.twitter.com/6NpZOUmQ1s
— Unitree Robotics (@UnitreeRobotics) March 9, 2021
I have some concerns.
How long does humanity have?
So when should we expect our robotic canine friends to dominate?
Chinese manufacturer Unitree Robotics is responsible for this terrifying force. Similar to US company Boston Dynamics, Unitree Robotics specialises in high-performance robot manufacturing.
Their robot offerings include BenBen, Aliengo, Laikago and the A1 robot which makes up the army in this video.
In terms of functionality, the A1 robot can squat, turn and lean, and move in all directions. The dog measures 62cm in length, 30cm in width and can carry a payload of up to 5kg.
According to Unitree Robotics’ website, the robodog is equipped with gesture recognition, a multi-eye intelligent depth camera, dynamic obstacle avoidance and something called Visual SLAM, which sure sounds like a weapon of mass destruction.
The AI bot also makes for a great running companion, reaching speeds of nearly 12km/h, and it can even do backflips. And all for less than $15,000.
Naturally, the internet became a little concerned after this robot army video went viral. So Unitree Robotics felt it had to respond with… this:
The Force Awakens. Everyone, help count how many? 😀 pic.twitter.com/6NpZOUmQ1s
— Unitree Robotics (@UnitreeRobotics) March 9, 2021
Set to another Star Wars tune the video shows the BenBen model performing neat tricks and defeating the A1 robot in mock laser battles. The BenBen robot is far more striking in appearance with its vibrant paint design representing the ‘spirit of the Ox’.
I suppose this was Unitree Robotics’ attempt to show us not all robot dogs are ‘bad guys’ but now all I can see are two armies of robot dogs that could kill us.
We’ve already seen attempts to weaponise Boston Dynamics’ robot dog Spot. It’s only a matter of time before BenBen comes for us too.
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