Robo-Police Dog Has People Worried About Secret Surveillance and Unmanned Weaponry

The New York Police Department recently tested out a new, high-tech, remote-controlled robotic dog, and while the mission appeared to qualify as a success, there's still plenty of concern online. Some critics are worried about the 70-pound device—dubbed "Digidog" by the NYPD—being used in the future for surveillance assignments, due to its outfitted cameras. There are also some opponents who are alarmed by the idea that it could eventually become weaponized.

Perhaps the most high-profile objection to Digidog comes from one of America's most visible Democratic politicians, U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The House member from New York tweeted about the recent use of the canine A.I.-cop on February 25, writing: "Now robotic surveillance ground drones are being deployed for testing on low-income communities of color with under-resourced schools."

Her reference to low-income communities is addressing the fact that Digidog's recent task on February 23 was in the Bronx, where it responded to a home invasion situation on East 227th Street. During that mission, Digidog helped the NYPD determine that the suspects were not present at the address, which is involved in an ongoing investigation.

"Please ask yourself: when was the last time you saw next-generation, world class technology for education, healthcare, housing, etc consistently prioritized for underserved communities like this?" AOC added in a later tweet.

Many posts on Twitter have echoed Ocasio-Cortez's comments that the robot's cost—about $75,000, according to reports—might be better used in other areas, particularly in a city still suffering economically due to the pandemic. But the congresswoman's concerns aren't the only ones regarding Digidog. There's an ongoing argument happening online about whether the use of this device could invade on personal privacy, as well as whether police should be using such a device at all.

"The problem is we need to have these public conversations at every step of the way as police departments use these type of technologies, especially as we're faced with the reckoning of racial justice moves against police brutality," Daniel Schwarz, a Privacy and Technology Strategist in the Policy Department of the American Civil Liberties Union, told Newsweek. "In the United States, we still have these crucial conversations about how and when robots can be utilized by police departments, and for that we need transparency and independent oversight."

When contacted by Newsweek for comment, a spokesperson from the NYPD's Office of the Deputy Commissioner (DCPI) replied with a general press release about the device's specifications and referred to another statement released on Twitter. The press release did note that Digidog is still "currently in the test phase."

The department's Twitter statement notes that robots have been used by the NYPD since the 1970s. Those early models obviously weren't equipped with the latest Artificial Intelligence like Digidog, which was designed by the robotics company Boston Dynamics.

Although it drew a lot of local attention, Digidog's work in the Bronx wasn't its first mission. The robot was deployed in Brooklyn this past October, for a case in which a suspected gunman reportedly barricaded himself in a home, and also in December, during a situation in which two gunmen reportedly held five people hostage in Queens. In both instances, Digidog was used to contact the hostages, thanks to its mounted cameras and two-way communication capabilities.

Some people online are also concerned that Digidog may eventually be armed, which opens up the door to possible mechanical malfunctions and safety risks. If Digidog ever became armed, it wouldn't be the first robot deployed as a weapon by law enforcement. Back in 2016, Dallas police used a robot loaded with an explosive device to blow up a gunman, who was suspected of killing five police officers during a standoff.

Schwarz said of Digidog, "There's no limitations whatsoever on weaponizing the robot."

Though Digidog poses a very real threat in some people's minds, there are nonetheless social media users who saw the humor—or potential horror—in its resemblance to a robotic dog from an episode of the sci-fi/horror series Black Mirror. In an episode titled "Metalhead," from the fourth series of the Netflix anthology show, a woman is chased by a murderous, canine-like robot in a dystopian setting.