Technology is evolving at a fast pace and the advancements are being distributed throughout the world. Health tech is improving in many parts of the world, and many are moving towards luxury technologies. The science fiction kind of future that we once saw in the famous futuristic cartoon series, The Jetsons is not too far away. Dubai is the city that is taking the lead in introducing the most futuristic of technologies whether it is rotating skyscrapers or passenger drones. The city famous for a police that drives around Lamborghinis is now adding a Robocop to its force starting this week.
PAL Robotics, A Spanish company introduced a customizable life-sized humanoid robot REEM back in 2011. The wheel-based robot is meant to provide high-tech interactive information at public places like airports, museums, and hospitals.
PAL Robotics worked with the Dubai Police to customize REEM to its needs. The head of the police robot project, Brigadier Khalid Nasser Alrazooqi has announced that the Robocop will first be used at tourist attractions and shopping centers and later at police stations as receptionists. The new robot system will allow citizens to pay fines, report crimes, and any other basic interactions that you need with the police.
Brigadier Abdullah Bin Sultan, the director of Future Shaping Centre of Dubai Police, has said, “We are looking to have more robots in future to handle policing. By 2030, we are keen to make robots around 25 percent of the total police force.”
Beginning with just one Robocop, a transition to a force with 25 percent of robots is a massive change. This version of REEM is capable of serving more as an information desk than an actual cop, but Dubai Police expects that the first prototype of the mobile police robot will be revealed by 2020, and by 2030, the robot force will be able to handle an entire police station on its own.
While all of this is theoretically possible with the AI developments that we see every day but the ethical and practical constraints of such an idea are undeniable. A robot for a receptionist is alright, but one that goes around arresting people on the streets is not exactly the easiest idea.
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