An arrest with the Digidog robot had enraged many people in the United States. Now the police are responding to accusations of increasing militarization.
“I’ve never seen anything like it”: Because a lot of people didn’t like him at all, the New York police separated from Digidog.
Video: Twitter
After sharp criticism, the New York police ended their use of a robot dog. As a police spokesman confirmed to the AFP news agency on Thursday, the contract with the manufacturing company Boston Dynamics was terminated. The four-legged robot, nicknamed Digidog, which is used for exploration in dangerous situations, goes back to the company. Actually, the contract with a volume of 94,000 dollars – around 85,000 francs – would have run until August.
New York police caused a storm of indignation when they used the remote-controlled and camera-equipped robot in an arrest in a public housing estate in February. The Democratic MP Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez spoke of a “robotic ground surveillance drone”.
The civil rights organization ACLU warned that the robots equipped with artificial intelligence could one day make police decisions. Critics also saw the robot as a symbol of the increasing militarization of the US police. The New York police, however, had declared that the high-tech robot could “save lives, protect people, protect police officers”.
The robot dog from Boston Dynamics had inspired the makers of the British science fiction series “Black Mirror” in the past. In the episode “Metalhead” from 2017, the main characters are chased in front of violent four-legged robots.
Published: 04/30/2021, 4:06 pm
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