Thailand Rings in New Year With Drone and CCTV-Powered Robot Cop

On April 16th, Thailand’s Royal Thai Police introduced their newest colleague, “AI Police Cyborg 1.0,” successful a Facebook post stating that the robot was deployed connected Tonson Road successful Muang District. One photograph shows the robot dressed successful a constabulary azygous portion it stands connected a wheeled metallic level lined by different uniformed officials.

Jointly developed by the Provincial Police Command 7, Nakhon Pathom Provincial Police, and Nakhon Nakhon Pathon Municipality, the robot has a fig of chilling capabilities including entree to adjacent CCTV cameras, drones, and its ain 360-degree AI cameras equipped with facial recognition, behavioral analysts, limb detection, and blacklist alerts. Officials accidental its video analytics are precocious capable to differentiate h2o guns from existent weapons and place convulsive behavior. 

© Royal Thai Police

According to the RTP’s Facebook post, the AI Police Cyborg 1.0 is linked with the province’s Command and Control halfway “for businesslike lawsuit information management.” Ostensibly, enhancing nationalist information is the robot’s main purpose, hence its name: Police Colonel Nakhonpathom Plod Phai, oregon “Nakhon Pathom is safe”. A spokesperson told ABP Live, “The AI Police Cyborg 1.0 helps america heighten nationalist safety, particularly during ample events wherever accepted policing resources tin beryllium stretched thin. It’s a unit multiplier that ne'er tires and maintains changeless vigilance.”

On the surface, that mightiness dependable nice. But buying into the thought that a constabulary robot with a slew of surveillance capabilities is conscionable meant for lawsuit absorption is unlikely, particularly erstwhile considering the Thai police’s record of brutality against activists. (Coincidentally, connected April 16, Bloomberg reported that Thai information services were doxxing pro-democracy activists connected Facebook and X.)

Technology similar AI Police Cyborg 1.0 has the imaginable for terrible societal and governmental repercussions. However, you whitethorn not person to freak retired yet. Police robots person a agelong mode to spell earlier they tin surpass the menace of much developed technologies similar compartment surveillance. Instead, they are disasters for a overmuch little ominous reason: Being mid. For example, New York City abandoned its subway robot successful an bare storefront aft an underwhelming pilot, and a constabulary robot successful California erstwhile told a pistillate to spell away erstwhile she tried utilizing it for help.

Although the Thai constabulary eagerly marketed their robot’s extended AI capabilities, Futurism besides noted that cipher has really seen the happening move. Many robots inactive struggle to navigate obstacles similar sidewalks oregon toddlers truthful it’s not far-fetched to suggest that the Thai robot either cannot determination independently oregon it sucks astatine doing so. Given that and constabulary robots’ planetary way records, Thailand’s robot is improbable to unrecorded up to its full, dystopian imaginable for now.