Enlarge this image People take pictures and videos of the Boston Dynamics robot Spot during an event in Lisbon in 2019.Patricia De Melo Moreira/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
toggle caption Patricia De Melo Moreira/AFP via Getty Images
People take pictures and videos of the Boston Dynamics robot Spot during an event in Lisbon in 2019.
Patricia De Melo Moreira/AFP via Getty Images Boston Dynamics and five other robotics companies have signed an open letter saying what many of us were already nervously hoping for anyway: Let’s not weaponize general-purpose robots.
The six leading tech firms — including Agility Robotics, ANYbotics, Clearpath Robotics, Open Robotics and Unitree — say advanced robots could result in huge benefits in our work and home lives but that they may also be used for nefarious purposes.
Technology AI Innovators Take Pledge Against Autonomous Killer Weapons “Untrustworthy people could use them to invade civil rights or to threaten, harm, or intimidate others,” the companies said .
“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,” they added.
The firms pledged not to weaponize their “advanced-mobility general-purpose robots” or the software that makes them function.They also said they would try to make sure their customers didn’t weaponize the companies’ products.
Law ‘Creepy’ Robot Dog Loses Job With New York Police Department They companies said they don’t take issue with “existing technologies” that governments use to “defend themselves and uphold their laws.”
According to Boston Dynamics’ website, police and fire departments are using the company’s dog-like robot Spot to assess risky situations, but the firm says Spot is not designed for surveillance or to replace police officers.
There have been growing calls across the globe to curb the use of autonomous weapons systems — which operate on their own and don’t involve a human operator — and the Stop Killer Robots campaign says.
