Boston Dynamics: New York politician wants to ban the armament of robots

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Boston Dynamics robot spot: The New York police call their test copy "Digidog"

Photo: Yoshio Tsunoda / imago images

A member of the City Council of New York City worries that armed robots could be used in the US metropolis.

"Nobody wants a future in which our city looks and feels like an episode of Black Mirror," said Democrat politician Ben Kallos, referring to the dystopian British series.

Technology for arming robots already exists: "In order to prevent something like this, we have to act now, before the technology pre-empts the laws."

As a preventive measure, Ben Kallos now wants to expand the so-called Public Oversight of Surveillance Technology (POST Act) and prohibit the New York City Police Department (NYPD) from using or threatening to use armed robots in the future.

Kallos also urges that robots should not be used in a way "that is likely to lead to death or serious physical injury."

How many other local politicians share Kallos' concern about armed robots remains to be seen.

The discussions about his proposal have only just begun.

However, the Democrat's move fits in with a global debate that has been going on for years as to whether governments should ban autonomous weapons systems, sometimes referred to as combat or killer robots.

A robot known from the internet

Ben Kallos sees a need for action in New York City after a robot operation by the NYPD made headlines around the world in February.

A short video documented that the police in the Bronx district had tested a robot dog in the course of a break-in, in which the situation at the crime scene was unclear.

The police call the model, which was used without any armament, "Digidog".

In practice, it is an operational robot from Boston Dynamics, known as Spot, and sold for around $ 75,000.

Spot is usually controlled by a human using a tablet controller.

However, the robot also offers functions that enable it to move independently in certain environments.

An NYPD spokeswoman told the New York Post in February that the Digidog was equipped with lights and cameras.

In this way he enables the police to see his surroundings in real time, so to speak.

Boston Dynamics robots are known to many internet users from viral videos celebrating their skills.

For example, there is a clip for the spot in which the robot dog tidies up, opens doors and pots plants.

"They'll arm him next"

The YouTube video that showed the robot dog on the streets of New York was commented by many users in February with slogans such as “More than scary” or “They will arm him next”.

The NYPD had countered criticism of their approach by saying that robots had been used since the 1970s "to save lives in hostage situations and in dangerous goods incidents." The spot is currently being tested to evaluate its capabilities in comparison to other models.

Last year the Digidog had already been to the Brooklyn borough.

When asked by the magazine “Wired”, Ben Kallos said that he “had no problem using a robot to defuse a bomb”.

So the politician is by no means interested in a complete ban on robots like the spot.

Robert Playter, the head of Boston Dynamics, told Wired that his company's terms of use would prohibit buyers of the robots from equipping them with weapons or letting them use weapons.

However, those terms of use had already put artists to the test in February.

For a live streaming campaign, they had equipped a spot with a paintball gun that was supposed to shoot at art objects.

In practice, the action was less spectacular than many viewers had expected, but Boston Dynamics immediately distanced itself from it.

They condemn the display of their technology "in a way that promotes violence, harm and intimidation," said the company.

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