When Did Daleks Become Good Guys?

autonomous-introducing-bg COMPBy Francis Hamit: Knightscope makes a 300-lb. security robot with artificial intelligence. It learns on the job and is autonomous. This is an advance in the state-of-the-art for security systems, but would be less disturbing if they did not look so much like the Daleks on Doctor Who.

The Knightscope K5 fuses autonomous robots and predictive analytics to provide a commanding but friendly physical presence while gathering important real-time on-site data…

 

8 thoughts on “When Did Daleks Become Good Guys?

  1. Less than minimum wage: “For your reference, we operate on a Machine-as-a-Service (MaaS) business model and our preliminary pricing for a well-equipped machine is $4,500 per month for 24/7 operations equating to approximately $6.25 per hour (!).”

  2. They won’t replace anyone, IMO. The Insurance companies offer a big discount on premiums for a live human being on site, also patrolling. This is called “firewatch”. It’s the financial basis for guard services everywhere. They will be useful in integrated man-machine security systems in parking lots,convention centers and other venues with lots of turf. They don’t look all that friendly to me.

  3. It’s not a Dalek until it has a toilet plunger and an egg whisk sticking out of it. Everybody knows that.

  4. I think they look more like automated security in some earlier episodes of Blakes 7.

  5. They have an AI component which lets them learn from experience. They are networked and mutually supporting and a company rep tells me that they are not meant to replace human security officers but to augment them and give them more capabilities. I have a similar device as a plot point in my novel MELTDOWN. That was published in 2012. Now art becomes reality.

  6. So, if they augment human security rather than replace us, the company is basically asking buyers to pay $6.25 per hour PLUS whatever they’re already paying their human security officers.

    I also feel iffy about the “AI” claims. If it’s teaching itself not to bump into walls or cross against the light, that’s one thing. Still a far cry from being able to make a decision about the zillion and one things humans can distinguish and make decisions on. (Does it have olfactory sensors? Because some of the things I’ve reported in my own security work have been odd odors, once including a potentially deadly gas leak that had the gas company’s repair trucks out to fix it at 2:00 AM.)

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