The New York Police Department terminated its $94,000 lease of a Boston Dynamics robotic dog called Digidog after public backlash criticized its deployment as dystopian surveillance and emblematic of overly aggressive policing in poor communities.
The New York Police Department acquired a robotic dog from Boston Dynamics in August 2020 under a $94,000 lease contract scheduled to end in August 2021. The four-legged device, named Digidog, was intended as a futuristic tool for dangerous situations too risky for officers. However, after deployments including a home invasion response in the Bronx in February and at a public housing building in Manhattan, critics likened it to dystopian surveillance and cited it as evidence of overly aggressive policing in poor communities. Following subpoenas from City Councilman Ben Kallos and Council Speaker Corey Johnson requesting records, police officials revealed the contract was terminated on April 22, 2021. The device had been used approximately six times since acquisition, including at barricade and hostage situations, and once delivered food to hostages in a Queens home invasion. Deputy Commissioner John Miller stated the lease was canceled early due to the device becoming a target for criticism about race and surveillance, despite the department's 50-year history of using robots for dangerous situations.
Domain classification, causal taxonomy, severity scores, and national security assessments were LLM-classified and may contain errors.
Users anthropomorphizing, trusting, or relying on AI systems, leading to emotional or material dependence and inappropriate relationships with or expectations of AI systems. Trust can be exploited by malicious actors (e.g., to harvest personal information or enable manipulation), or result in harm from inappropriate use of AI in critical situations (e.g., medical emergency). Overreliance on AI systems can compromise autonomy and weaken social ties.
Human
Due to a decision or action made by humans
Unintentional
Due to an unexpected outcome from pursuing a goal
Post-deployment
Occurring after the AI model has been trained and deployed
No population impact data reported.