There is a new big dog in town and it is semi-autonomous.
According to the New York Times, the city's fire department has become the first in the country to purchase a $75,000 robot dog.
The use of the 70 pound robots affectionately named Spot will be less controversial than the NYPD's use of the dogs on raids.
After the New York Police Department's disastrous experiment with dogs in 2021, there is a convenient side effect of helping the city recover some goodwill.
It has been under a year since the NYPD canceled its contract with Boston Robotics after the public caught wind of the robot in a video.
The video showed a robot walking with cops out of a public housing building after the arrest of an alleged home invader.
The Times reporter responded to the video with the right reaction.
The captain of the FDNY's robotics team says that Hollywood is to blame for the public's distrust of these machines.
He told the NYT that the TV industry and movie industry hurts us because they show pictures of robot weapons and then people think that's how all robot are. That is the core thing. These machines will save lives.
The NYPD came under scrutiny over its disastrous deployment of the robot last year, and there are concerns that they may be used as a surveillement tool.
The work being done by fire departments is quite different from the work being done by policing. With a bit of luck and a lot of common sense, the FDNY will avoid the mistakes of its sister agency and use Spot a bit more tactfully.
Save: Robot Dogs Join the New York Fire Department.
Boston Dynamics deploys robot guard dog at factory
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