IE 11 Not Supported

For optimal browsing, we recommend Chrome, Firefox or Safari browsers.

Firefighting Robots

One was used to fight the Notre Dame fire.

Robots are going to be doing many more things in the future. We have had bomb robots for some time, but now there is this firefighting robot that was used to fight the Notre Dame fire, see Meet the Robot Firefighter That Battled the Notre Dame Blaze.

The military is testing and developing many different types of robotic solutions. The ethical question for the Army, for instance, do you have a robot using artificial intelligence (AI) self-determine to engage a target with lethal fire? As we move farther down the AI and robotics trail, there will be more questions like the above that begin to impact our functioning and ethics as a modern society. The movie I Robot reveals some of those. When does the robot and AI take over the decision-making?

Eric Holdeman is a contributing writer for Emergency Management magazine and is the former director of the King County, Wash., Office of Emergency Management.
Sign up for GovTech Today

Delivered daily to your inbox to stay on top of the latest state & local government technology trends.