on Boston Dynamics’ Spot. The project allowed users to pilot the said Spot unit through a website, and fire a paintball gun in a closed setting. The project was called “Spot’s Rampage,” which was eventually condemned by Boston Dynamics, saying that it fundamentally “misrepresented” their product, and that prior to the release of the project, they had been clear to the group that the robot must not be used in a way that harms people.
The site also noted that the companies’ use of the term “general purpose” to label the robots it would not weaponize may give some of the companies working with the US defense department some leeway. “We understand that our commitment alone is not enough to fully address these risks, and therefore we call on policymakers to work with us to promote safe use of these robots and to prohibit their misuse. We also call on every organization, developer, researcher, and user in the robotics community to make similar pledges not to build, authorize, support, or enable the attachment of weaponry to such robots,” the letter went.
“Our willingness to accept these robots is predicated on a false sense of safety and assurance. Sure, you’ve got to make a buck and the odds of doing so are enhanced by parading around dancing robots, but this regrettably omits or seemingly hides the real fact that these robots are robots and that the AI controlling the robots can be devised wrongfully or go awry,” wrote Lance Eliot, an AI expert and a Stanford Fellow at Stanford University.