Not all Robocops

Pictured: the moment everything
started to go wrong forever.

You've seen Robocop, yah? The Paul Verhoevan-directed dystopian action/comedy that satirizes Reagan-era America and is set in a dilapidated, near lawless Detroit? In it, a greedy corporation is brought in to solve the city's crime problem, but instead of addressing things like poverty, the lack of mental health resources, and housing, their solution is robots who shoot people without a trial. But that was just a movie and surely no reasonable person would arm robo--just kidding, that's exactly what's happening.

In San Francisco no less. Yes, America's hippie, progressive bastion-turned gentrified playground for ultra-wealthy tech bros is thinking about introducing goddamn ED-209's.

What could possibly go wrong?

"Out of my cold, deactivated manipulator claw."

-Some robot

Ok, let me walk it back a little. The city's police department is proposing that they be allowed to equip their robots with guns and allow them to use deadly force. The robots, already used for things like gathering information during a stand-off and diffusing bombs, would now be equipped with deadly weapons--so, guns--and used to kill suspects if there is "risk of loss of life to members of the public or officers." Which I've got to think is any situation where a suspect had a gun. 

Pictured: the look Isaac Asimov would be
giving the SFPD right now were he still alive.

Anyway, before we all completely lose our shit over the implications of this--and I am in no way saying we shouldn't lose our shit over the implications of kill bots--I should clarify that when the SFPD says "robots" they're referring to what are basically glorified, ground-based drones, and not robots in the more sci-fi sense. That is to say that the robots are making a call as to who to shoot. The technology isn't there yet and even if it were, that seems like it would be a pretty big First Law of Robotics violation.

So this, but lethal and followed
by investigations and lawsuits.

It's still a human police officer behind the remote control of these things. What the department is asking for is the option to use these robots to carry out deadly force when they feel it's necessary to protect people. And, I don't know, it seems like the use of deadly force would require an on-the-ground awareness that just isn't possible through an LCD screen. I just think of the number of times we've all fallen off the edge of the world in a 3-D video game because of poor camera placement.

Look, I'm sure that the SFPD is just asking for what they feel is reasonable and necessary leeway to use their equipment in such a way to avoid injury and death for both the public and themselves. But I just have a hard time with any solution to gun violence that boils down to more guns. And also robots with guns. I have a hard time with that too. I've seen movies.

If only there was something we could pass reasonable regulatory laws about
that would help stem the tide of the gun-related deaths we face every day in America?