Featured Image Credit: Alexander Atamanov
Topics: Viral, Technology
Stewart Perrie
People on social media are horrified after seeing a video of a robot dog casually doing some target practice with a semi-automatic weapon.
Look, we've all had fears about robots eventually gaining sentience and rising up against their human overlords and this is definitely a step in that direction.
A clip is circulating online showing the machine prance around a shooting range with a hefty-looking weapon attached to its back.
You can watch the frightening robot in action below:
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One person reacting to the video wrote on Twitter: "These should be banned worldwide, it's a weapon of oppression, it's going to play a key role on the downfall of any prospect of free and democratic societies."
Another added: "I especially love all those stray bullets being shot off at completely random angles to later strike some random citizen, because the billion-dollar-robot somehow still can’t account for muzzle rebound after the shots."
A third said: "This goes against laws of robotics."
Many people drew comparisons between this robot dog and the one seen in the 'Metalhead' episode of Black Mirror.
That particularly grim episode showed a future where humans get hunted by these small machines that have a particularly grisly accuracy for murder.
We shouldn't get too carried away with dire warnings, however, as according to Vice the combination of UnitreeYusu 'technology dog' and PP-19 Vityaz submachine gun is a DIY project by Russian Alexander Atamov.
Though several companies are developing robot dogs which bear a resemblance to the Black Mirror designs, few have gone so far as to strap guns to them.
Boston Dynamics has said it will not sell its robot dogs to people who intend to use them as weapons.
There have been occasions where the technology had been adapted for a military use, however. SWORD International and Ghost Robotics unveiled their weapon in October last year and it elicited similar reactions to the clip above.
The company's Special Purpose Unmanned Rifle (SPUR for short) attachment for Quadrupedal Unmanned Ground Vehicles (QUGVs) was on full display at an expo.
A statement on SWORD International's website states: "The SWORD Defense Systems Special Purpose Unmanned Rifle (SPUR) was specifically designed to offer precision fire from unmanned platforms such as the Ghost Robotics Vision-60 quadruped.
"Featuring safe, chamber, clear, and fire capabilities that allows for safe and reliable deployment of the weapon system - providing the operator an ability to load and safe the weapon at a distance.
"These features also provide the operator the ability to clear malfunctions, and safely unload the platform prior to recovery.
"Due to its highly capable sensors the SPUR can operate in a magnitude of conditions, both day and night.
"The SWORD Defense Systems SPUR is the future of unmanned weapon systems, and that future is now."
The 6.5mm Creedmoor sniper rifle attachment is accurate up to 1,200 metres away.
It's worth noting however that the SPUR will have a human operator, so Skynet is taking over just yet.