Image Credit: Screenshot 
It’s all fun and games when it comes to Boston Dynamics’ robot dog SPOT. Watch as the loveable scamps dance to Korean boy band music in their latest video:
As Zero Hedge notes, the video was made to signify South Korean firm Hyundai finalizing its acquisition of Boston Dynamics earlier this month.
Eric Whitman, a Boston Dynamics roboticist commented “There were a lot of challenges around getting the vision of our choreographer, who’s used to dealing with human dancers, into our software.”
What is the deal with this?
Are we really supposed to believe that these machines are being developed so they can dance around with 14 year old K-pop boys?
In reality, these machines are being made for military and law enforcement purposes, as this recent video of the French military highlights:
Quand robots et élèves officiers s’entraînent ensemble sur le camp militaire de Coëtquidan
Pendant deux jours, 80 élèves officiers de l’EMIA ont manœuvré avec des alliés inattendus : les robots Spot, Nerva, Barracuda, Optio 20 et Ultro
https://t.co/avGjTaNYkc pic.twitter.com/t8xVoofRtC
— Ouest-France (@OuestFrance) April 3, 2021
Last December, the NYPD is deployed a similar 70 pound robotic Boston Dynamics dog capable of opening doors and moving objects out of its path.
In fact, the ‘dog’, called Digidog, is actively being used to apprehend suspects, according to a report by ABC 7 News.
“This dog is going to save lives, protect people, and protect officers and that’s our goal,” NYPD Technical Assistance Response Unit Inspector (TARU) Frank Digiacomo said.
“This robot is able to use its artificial intelligence to navigate things, very complex environments,” NYPD TARU’s Deepu John added.
Watch:
Last year, one of the machines was used in Singapore to enforce social distancing and mask wearing:
The ‘SPOT’ dog was also deployed last year by Massachusetts State Police in live action situations to provide troopers with images of suspicious devices or reveal where suspects were hiding.
Video of MA State Police testing the dogs shows one of the robots opening a door, mirroring footage released previously by Boston Dynamics.
Boston Dynamics routinely releases slick videos of the machines in action:
The AI on the dogs is open, so it can be customized, and the machines can be fitted with weapons. Along with the lease to law enforcement, that is enough for Kade Crockford, director of the technology for liberty program at the ACLU of Massachusetts to issue a warning.
“We just really don’t know enough about how the state police are using this,” Crockford said. “And the technology that can be used in concert with a robotic system like this is almost limitless in terms of what kinds of surveillance and potentially even weaponization operations may be allowed.”
“We really need some law and some regulation to establish a floor of protection to ensure that these systems can’t be misused or abused in the government’s hands,” Crockford said, adding “And no, a terms of service agreement is just insufficient.”
The robot dogs inspired an infamous episode of Black Mirror in 2017, where machines very similar looking to the SPOT, but more advanced, were depicted hunting down and killing people after the unexplained collapse of human society.
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