new York The Police Department said Thursday it will stop using the “Digidog,” a four-legged robot that is sometimes sent to restore it in dangerous areas. NYPD officials confirmed in a statement that they had terminated their contract and returned the dog to sell Boston Dynamics. Last December, the agency released Digidog, called Spot, for $ 94,000.
John Miller, Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence and Crime Police, he was told New York Times that the agreement “was a political one, a protest, and a cheap cry.” Miller complained about the bad media coverage of what happened, but in many ways the NYPD did was a blueprint for how not to introduce new technology. And, for civil rights activists, how you can make the most of this opportunity by banning unnecessary technologies.
To be honest, it wasn’t just the bites that ruined Spot. New Yorkers did not want to.
In February, the NYPD used Spot to deal with terrorists in the Bronx. When the device’s video began to move, its flexible legs and head camera design were disturbing. The robot has quadrupedals but does not look like a dog. The most recent comparisons with armored robots found in the postapocalyptic period of Black Glass. These comparisons spread rapidly on television. The NYPD’s secrecy was disputed: There was no way to comment to Spot, and citizens were unaware of the prospect of seeing robot dogs respond to capture.
The NYPD had this opportunity, a few months earlier, when it had to explain the prices and control of all monitoring equipment such as defined by the city Public Supervision Technical Regulation (POST) Act. Instead, the council included references to Spot in a larger section of “state-of-the-art surveillance cameras,” without photographs.
In New York, police department it is not necessary seeking approval from the city council, which often affects the public sector to purchase new products. And the installation of a robot for humans has its consequences.
Specifically, the Spot price of $ 94,000 means, in cities as Sacramento or Burbank wants the council to approve more than $ 100,000 pledges, it could come out unannounced.
In New York, a mystery followed by a sudden horror story killed Digidog.
US Ambassador to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) challenged the robot as a waste of money that would have provided for development projects. City Council member Ben Kallos led the case banning armored robots, claiming that Spot was the first to set up a “hand race” in the Bronx area where the incident took place, where police respond to frequent calls, many citizens wonder if they will start to see a dog coming frequently.
Most importantly, Spot was unarmed. The robot that is used cameras and microphones exploring areas that may be dangerous to supervisors, such as time of arrest. In particular, robots are used to monitor low-voltage electrical or gas emissions. However, the “robot dog” label was rejected because it was introduced during the police era, in the midst of a global police dialogue, used by police who buy new weapons without public approval.
Critics have used this to emphasize the dangers of police using robots without human supervision or human intervention. With extremely dangerous technologies, for example home bells, many ask, “What’s the worst thing that can happen?” In the case of Spot, he warned that it was part of a larger police force.
Boston Dynamics says the company prohibits the installation of equipment on its robots. In a statement Thursday, the company said, “We will help the community evaluate how government funding is provided, and we believe Spot is a cheap tool similar to the old-fashioned technology used to protect people from dangerous areas.”
Kallos, a member of the city council, told WIRED in March that the threat of rising missions, including police forces (including the use of drones and robots in health facilities) meant it was time to take action.
