The New York Fire Department has revealed its latest batch of recruits – and they’re likely to raise some eyebrows.
Boston Dynamics’ $75,000 robot dogs, known as Spot, will be used to aid firefighters in search and rescue missions, according to fire officials.
Their rollout comes less than a year after the New York Police Department (NYPD) was forced to terminate its contract with Boston Dynamics amid concerns about the privacy of the robot dogs.
Speaking to the New York Times, Captain Michael Leo, from the Fire Department’s robotics unit, reassured that the robot dogs are safe and will ‘save lives.’
‘The TV industry and the movie industry are hurting us in some ways because they often show pictures of robots that are weaponised, and then people think that’s how all robots are,’ he said.
‘Our whole mission is a lifesaving one. That’s the core thing. These robots will save lives.’
The New York Fire Department has revealed its latest batch of recruits – Boston Dynamics’ $75,000 robot dogs
The four-legged robots, known as Spot, will be used to aid firefighters in search and rescue missions, according to fire officials
The robot dogs will be controlled by a human operator and will be able to collect images and data during precarious search and rescue missions, and measure the concentration of dangerous gases, according to the New York Times.
The robots will only collect data on hazardous materials situations, according to officials.
However, Albert Fox Cahn, a lawyer based at the NYU School of Law, has expressed concerns on how the robots could collect and use data in the future.
Speaking to the New York Times, he said: ‘If it actually is used in ways that keeps firefighters safe, that would be great.
‘But the history has always been that even if it’s first brought in for a compelling case, you get this creep where it’s used for more and more scenarios until it’s reaching areas where it just doesn’t feel justifiable.’
In April last year, Boston Dynamics was forced to terminate its contract with the NYPD amid concerns about the privacy of the robot dogs, and fears they were ‘unsettling’.
The NYPD sparked outrage when it tested the robots during an arrest in a public housing building in Manhattan before using them in a hostage situation in the Bronx.
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez described the dog as a ‘robotic surveillance ground drone’ while the American Civil Liberties Union expressed fear that if unchecked it could one day make law enforcement decisions.
Residents in the Bronx, New York stopped dead in their tracks as the four-legged robotic dog trotted down East 227th Street in February last year
New York’s counterterrorism chief John Miller told The New York Times that the dog would be returned to Boston Dynamics because it had become a ‘target’ for people who criticized the police.
On its website, Boston Dynamics claims ‘Spot is not designed to conduct mass surveillance, or to replace police officers.’
‘The robot has been used to help humans remotely evaluate potentially dangerous situations that include explosives or other environments where the risk to human health and safety is high,’ the company notes.
On its website, Boston Dynamics claims ‘Spot is not designed to conduct mass surveillance, or to replace police officers’
‘In addition, Boston Dynamics’ Terms and Conditions prohibit the use of Spot to harm or intimidate people or animals. Terms also require compliance with all applicable laws, including privacy laws.’
This isn’t the first time that the New York Fire Department has turned its attention to robots.
A bulky red robot dubbed the Super Droid was used back in 2014, but was found to be too cumbersome to perform basic tasks.
