The Militarization Of Robot Dogs Is Terrifying Picture Of What Is To Come
By PNW Staff June 27, 2023
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Several years ago the somewhat bizzare TV show Black Mirror featured an episode called "Metalhead" which imagined a future in which robotic guard dogs acts as the enforcement arm of authorities at the time.
In the show these metal beasts have enough artificial intelligence to problem solve and determine how best to hunt down those humans who have violated certain laws.
The creepy episode has widely been described as a simplified version of The Terminator and used Boston Dynamics robot dogs as it's inspiration for where the future of robodogs may lead.
Boston Dynamics has been showing off it's robodogs doing various tricks over the years including decorating Christmas trees and opening doors. It has pledged never to weaponize it's robodogs.
Unfortunately that is not the case for other companies developing similar technology.
China has made their own version of "spot" - except they strapped a gun onto it.
Another Chinese defense contractor showed off a drone deploying an armed robodog into a mock warzone:
Which leaves us with yet another robodog that a US company called "Throwflame" has developed into "the first-ever flamethrower-wielding robot dog," according to its website.
"This quadruped is coupled with the ARC Flamethrower to deliver on-demand fire anywhere!" Throwflame said. It can shoot streams of fire up to 30 feet away:
The militarization of robot dogs is terrifying. Even more disturbing is that some of these robots are receiving OpenAI's ChatGPT upgrades that make them even more intelligent.
Earlier this year the Australian military used artificial intelligence to allow soldiers to control robot dogs soley with their minds.
Called a brain robotic interface, the state-of-the-art artificial intelligence -- through a high-tech biosensor headset -- analyzes brainwave readings and feeds them from a person's visual cortex into the advanced "robodog," Newsflash reported.
"The whole process is not difficult to master. It's very intuitive. It only took a couple of sessions," said 5th Combat Service Support Battalion Sergeant Damian Robinson, who test-drove the HoloLens headset.
Robinson and fellow soldiers did course training with the mind-reading headsets and robodogs, in which they were able to successfully navigate harsh terrain and bad weather on a makeshift battlefield.
Some experts fear that robodogs may become too smart for their human controllers and act independently as they continue to utilize artificial intelligence to make independent decisions.
