We will one day remember that the first robot-police officers appeared in 2016 at the edge of the Saudi Arabian peninsula, in Dubai. We will remember that they were launched more as an innovation than as a real force of control and repression. We will remember the white-green humanoid, yet faceless, robot, with a screen in place of its chest, moving clumsily around the GITEX exhibition space, shaking hands and recognizing faces. We may remember that they said it was more of a “tourist attraction,” one that would provide information, accept payments for fines, and be able to listen to, record, and forward reports of illegal acts. We will perhaps remember that the robot’s technology impressed more than the reason it was built, its evolving capabilities, and its full-scale deployment.
We will remember these things someday… but we won’t laugh at all.