Seemed like common sense, but apparently it needed to be officially put in writing: Robotic cops are a bad idea.
“We believe that adding weapons to robots that are remotely or autonomously operated, widely available to the public and capable of navigating to previously inaccessible locations where people live and work, raises new risks of harm and serious ethical issues,” wrote a group of robotics companies in a pledge not to weaponize their products, and to encourage others not to do so either.
The companies who crafted and signed the pledge include Boston Dynamics, famous for its Spot robot dog that has already landed in hot water for its use by law enforcement, as well as Agility Robotics, ANYbotics, Clearpath Robotics, Open Robotics and Unitree.
