The move toward using robots in law enforcement, private security, and even to scare away the homeless,
has been a decade-long trend that is now becoming much more prevalent
in everyday life in the wake of COVID-19. Where people were once
appalled that drones went from “search and rescue” duties to
surveillance, the Overton window has quickly moved to pandemic drones that can use thermal imaging to scan the public’s temperature readings.
The same move toward even more dystopian use of A.I. robots can be
seen on the ground as well. “RoboCops” have been launched coast to coast
in 16 states. As Aaron Kesel reported:
The robots are able to scan anyone walking on the
sidewalks, record license plates, use infrared vision, and one of the
scariest uses of this technology is the capability to detect cellphone
serial numbers within a designated patrolling area.
Apparently, those uses could seem quaint if we take the latest news from Singapore as a sign of things to come.
A Boston Dynamics/DARPA-funded robot named “Spot” is now being seen in parks barking orders at passersby to maintain their distance.
Singapore also happens to be the first place to have tested what is
now taking over the daily news cycle: contact tracing. As you can see in
the video above, Spot has an array of cameras and sensors which
undoubtedly could also assist in this task.
Boston Dynamics is of course an American company funded by the
Pentagon’s research division, so it would be unwise to assume that these
robots will never make it to the streets of America.
But, wait, they already have.
As Elias Marat wrote for The Mind Unleashed,
Massachusetts police have tested Spot for use as part of the bomb
squad. As you’ll see below, Spot has been modified to open doors:
A company called YouBionic has gone a step further and created a modification for Spot that would appear to give even more human-like flexibility for performing tasks.
As I’ve questioned in previous articles about robodogs: Didn’t anyone see that episode of Black Mirror — “Metalhead”?
Spoiler alert: it didn’t have a happy ending.
As we see each area of the world adopting the most draconian policies
and technologies soon after they are introduced, is it really
far-fetched anymore to be concerned that these robodogs will be used not
only for contact tracing and social distancing police, but also as
quarantine enforcement and extraction? As Spiro Skouras has reported, home extraction of COVID suspects who are unable to “properly” quarantine at home has been discussed in California.
We have entered very strange times where warnings of dystopian
outcomes from misuse of robotics and artificial intelligence are instead
cheered on by major media outlets like NBC with this headline: “Robot Dog Helping Keep People Safe in Singapore.”
And it can’t happen here?
Nicholas West writes for Activist Post. Support us at Patreon for as little as $1 per month. Follow us on Minds, Steemit, SoMee, BitChute, Facebook and Twitter. Ready for solutions? Subscribe to our premium newsletter Counter Markets.
Top image: The Mind Unleashed
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