The use of autonomous drones on the battlefield has already raised many questionable ethical questions. Many experts and human rights groups have condemned the use of killer robots, especially when you consider the potential for technological glitches resulting in the deaths of innocent people – not to mention using the technology to commit atrocities without any direct human involvement.
But what if such technology falls into the hands of terrorists and criminals, who are not at all beholden to the norms of modern warfare? one in new reportThe Innovation Lab of Europol, the pan-European police agency, has imagined a future in which criminals could hijack autonomous vehicles, drones and humanoid robots to spread lawlessness – and how law enforcement would have to step in as a result.
By the year 2035, the report warns, law enforcement departments will need to deal with “crimes committed by robots such as drones” that are “used as tools in thefts”, not to mention “automated vehicles that hurt pedestrians” – a situation we have already seen in several cases.
The report said humanoid robots could also complicate matters “as they may be designed to interact with humans in more sophisticated ways, potentially making it more difficult to distinguish between intentional and accidental behavior.”
Worse, robots designed to assist in health care settings can be hacked, leaving patients vulnerable to attackers.
According to the report, to complete the cyberpunk dystopia vibes, all those laid off from jobs as a result of automation could be driven to resort to “cyber crime, vandalism and organized theft, often targeting robotic infrastructure” to survive.
Europol says law enforcement needs to evolve rapidly to keep up. For example, a police officer may need to determine whether the driverless car that was involved in an accident did so intentionally after receiving instructions as part of a cyberattack, or whether it was a simple malfunction.
According to the report, they may also deploy hypothetical gadgets with “robofreezer guns” and “traps with built-in grenades” to shoot down drones in their fight against killer robots.
While Europol spokesperson told Wire While the agency “can’t predict the future,” warning signs are certainly already there. For example, the use of autonomous technology such as drones has already become common in active battlefields such as the Ukraine-Russia war front.
The report said advanced weapons have already “spread into organized crime and terrorism, overwhelming law enforcement.” “There has also been an increase in the use of drones around European infrastructure, and there are examples of drone pilots selling their services online, transforming this criminal process from crime as a service to crime at a distance.”
In short, it is a disturbing vision of the future of crime, facilitated by rapidly evolving technologies.
“The integration of unmanned systems into crime is already here, and we have to ask ourselves how criminals and terrorists might use drones and robots a few years from now,” said Catherine de Bolle, executive director of Europol. statement“Just as the Internet and smartphones presented significant opportunities as well as challenges, this technology will present the same,”
Experts, the year 2035 is only a decade away told The Verge Europol said in its report that the rapidly changing technological landscape could result in a crime-ridden future.
“One way or another, criminals will use some kind of new technology,” Giovanni Luca Masala, a roboticist and computer science lecturer at the University of Kent, told the publication, but he acknowledged that “it is difficult to predict the year 2035,” given how rapidly the situation is evolving.
Some also expressed concern over privacy violations, which are carried out not only by criminals, but also by law enforcement using sophisticated surveillance methods.
Others were less convinced that crime or law enforcement would get a major robotic makeover any time soon.
“There are not only technical barriers to some of those extreme scenarios becoming a reality by 2035, but also regulatory barriers,” said Dennis Niezgoda, chief commercial officer at Locus Robotics. Wire“I don’t see RoboCop walking through and policing our streets, I just don’t believe that robots will eliminate the job,”
More on AI and crime detection: The AI startup says it will eliminate crime by keeping the entire United States under the radar of always-watching spy cameras.
