We may joke a lot about the impending horrors of how robots
are coming for our jobs, but many times, for the most part, these replacements
ultimately will bode well for the labors of the industrial or commercial
world. More importantly, at the top of
the line, in each of these instances, the robots are being deployed by human
beings capable of critical thinking and (theoretically) feeling emotions. Now, we will find ourselves being increasingly
placed in difficult situations where there are strong arguments both for and
against the usage of robots in delicate human-induced situations…
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| A bomb robot in Arlington, TX, during the 2011 Super Bowl. Will more such machines quell our quandaries? (Image courtesy qz.com.) |
After the terrible tragedy this week in Dallas, where five
police officers were murdered by a rogue gunman, reports emerged that the
shooter was not stopped nor detained, but rather was killed…by a robot.
According to gizmodo.com, the Dallas Police reported that a “bomb
detection robot attached with an explosive device” was the response to the
fatal shootings. It is being considered
the first lethal use of a military-grade bomb robot in the service of a
civilian police force.
While no specific details have yet been released, an assortment
of experts have speculated that the death-dealing droid is a Marcbot-IV model,
which has previously been used by U.S. soldiers during attacks in Iraq. Resembling a souped-up, $8,000 remote-control
truck, the Marcbot is equipped with miniature monster-truck tires and a camera
on an extendable arm. It is maneuvered
in the most amenable modern fashion possible:
via an Xbox controller.
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| This little guy is just a recon robot, but you get the idea. (Image courtesy dailymail.uk.) |
Other models of bomb-disposal ‘bots owned by the Dallas
Police Department apparently include a Northrop Grumman Remotec Andros F6 and
Mark 5A-1, both with significant price tags and features. The Grumman robots include wheels to help
climb stairs, and color cameras mounted on arms with seven degrees of motion. As the gunman was reportedly cornered on a
second floor, it is therefore possible that one of these luxury vehicles for
bomb disposal was used to dispatch the gunman.
The question, however, is not which robot did the killing,
but whether such tactics will now become commonplace in crisis situations. While these robots, like drones, are of
course not autonomous, one wonders if they offer a skill set significant enough
to outdo a trained, thinking human physically placed in a similar situation.
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| Options: a few of the tools in the Dallas PD's arsenal. (Image courtesy chron.com.) |
Although this particular
instance was clearly in response to a dire tactical threat, and was put into
action only after several brave living beings lost their lives, the future must
entail vigilance concerning abuse of these initiatives (particularly due to the
Pentagon fueling local police with military equipment under their 1033 program)
as well as updated legal assessments concerning efforts at making stronger
attempts to detain criminals for trial (or not.)
If this article makes you fear for the future of robotic
police brutality, it’s worth mentioning that a police robot was once used todeliver pizzas for the purpose of diffusing a suicide situation. So maybe a happy co-existence between ‘bots
and boys and blue CAN be attained.
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| Also, real delivery robots are becoming a thing soon. The future may be frightening, but also well-fed. (Image courtesy spectrum.ieee.org.) |
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