“It will not record audio, and it will not use facial recognition,”…
YET
The NYPD does not own the robot, Adams said, but is in fact leasing it from the Knightscope company…
A company which I’m sure is 100% ethical, and has no ulterior motives whatsoever.
I don’t believe for half a second that it’s not going to use facial recognition and record everything. What they mean is that those recordings won’t be available for public review when the thing messes up and harasses people who are just going about their day.
Definitely distopian, corporate power and entrenchment grows every year.
I really don’t like it when corporations become involved in public services.
"I’m hoping you’re going to put a line in your story about how cost-efficient I am,” he continued. “This is below minimum wage. No bathroom breaks, no meal breaks. This is a good investment, so please make sure that’s added to the story, okay?” [the mayor said]
The mayor was enthusiastic about the cost-effectiveness of the robot. “I want you guys to be extremely creative in your writing style to say ‘Eric, job well done,’” he told reporters.
This guy is special, isn’t he…
The whole article basically lights it as a waste of money, since “[the police robot’s] effectiveness is unclear”, how there’s “no public evidence about actual crime reduction”, and how the “robot [needs] to be accompanied by a human officer at all times”, negating the need for the robot altogether.
The NYPD will do literally anything and everything they can to make sure cops don’t actually work. 
However, the K5 does have a button that connects you immediately to a live person, that New Yorkers can utilize 24-7, with questions, concerns, or to report an incident if needed
So security cameras and one of those blue light emergency intercom things.
That might be handy if we didn’t already live in a day and age where everyone is carrying a device that can put them in touch with a live person 24-7.
It’s not literally everyone, and people do have batteries die. I’m all for putting those call stations at regular intervals in public transit and other areas where it’s plausible they’d be used.
I’m less sure the utility of serving the same functionality, but with a much more expensive robot. Realistically the entire purpose is to normalize people to seeing them as police officers, and I’m skeptical that that’s a positive.
I smell the foul stench of WITCHCRAFT! What is this heretical device you speak of?
“I cannot deactivate until you tell me you are satisfied with your police harassment.”
“Young African American teenager spotted, calling for backup”
I’d buy that for a dollar!
Bitches, get out
I don’t care that it’s being babysat, I’m still betting on it being stolen is a when, not an if
Im sure it will endure something like that, or at least be harassed. Apparently when they tried using a similar robot in san Francisco it got knocked over and covered in bbq sauce haha
This thing should go out the same way digital doors did at Walgreens. In the trash.
Oh man. My old Walgreens had these and I begged the manager at my new store not to let them put them in. They still haven’t made their way over yet, maybe the company realized how absolutely idiotic they are.
The only reason they wanted them is because when someone wasn’t standing directly in front of them they would play full screen ads for whatever was (supposed to be) inside.
What’s a digital door
Door sized screens for food coolers: https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/12/business/walgreens-freezer-screens/index.html
Eeww that sucks
They’re the worst. The Walgreens near me has them and if they’re not completely broken, the data on the front of them is entirely wrong. You have to stand there with the door open, wasting electricity, just to figure out which drink you want.
This sounds even more frustrating than digital menu boards that instead of just being digital to be able to update easily rotate screens quickly where you have to wait through multiple cycles to read it.
I think the glass doors on the refrigerated coolers that were electronic displays that showed you an ideal image of the drink or whatever was supposed to be inside, but you couldn’t see through them to see if there were any actually on the shelf.
So how long until people start advocating for the nonhuman, nonsentient robot over actual PoC? “Silicon lives matter”?
How long till all the trains are delayed because people in masks pushed it on the tracks
