Robots as Social Commentary

An article over at cnn.com got me this morning.  I started off looking at it as a way to make a joke about how the robots are coming and then maybe link back to my previous posts on robots, mainly because of the awesome Old Glory faux-mercial.

Then I started doing actual thinking and the story got me a little depressed.

Here's an excerpt from cnn.com's Rusty Dornin

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- It's midnight on the streets of Atlanta, and bar owner Rufus Terrill patrols his neighborhood with a rolling crime fighter of his own creation. Meet "Bum-bot," as Terrill describes it; others in his neighborhood call it simply, "Robocop."

...

It's a barbecue smoker mounted on a three-wheeled scooter, and armed with an infrared camera, spotlight, loudspeaker and aluminum water cannon that shoots a stream of icy water about 20 feet.

Operated by remote control, the robot spotlights trespassers on property down the street from his bar, O'Terrill's. Using a walkie-talkie, Terrill belts out through the robot's loudspeaker, "That's private property. You guys need to get out of here."

 

At first I thought that this is great!  Here's a guy trying to take back his community.  That aspect of the story is pretty positive and kind of funny too.

What depresses me about the situation is two-fold -

First, the "robot" is basically a remote-controlled car with a Super Soaker.  There's no real programming.  There's no AI.  I'm not trying to downplay Mr. Terrill's accomplishment, but compared to robots that can independantly guide patients and visitors through a hospital, it's a far cry.  It's like Junkyard Wars vs The Terminator.  On the one side you have a home-made contraption basically built from scraps that were on-hand and on the other side you have a precision-crafted machine designed and programmed for a specific purpose.

The second thing that is distressing to me is the purpose of newsworthy robots in the States and in Japan.  Their robots are working in hospitals and are being developed to aid the elderly.  What are we building them for?  To soak hookers and drug dealers.

I wish that we had stories about actual robots helping people and making their lives better.

For now all the robots we have in the news are remote-controlled BBQ's that can moisten the heck out of a gaggle of prostitutes.