A "terrifying" robot dog has been used by American police for the first time in a bomb raid.
The robot, which has the ability to open doors and move objects, has already been deployed for live incidents, per the Sun. Dubbed "Spot" dogs, they have been getting tested by Massachusetts State Police alongside their officers over the past three months.
This dog has been taught how to 'speak':Designed to monitor suspicious activity, the spokesman described the robot as a "mobile remote observation device."
They said: "Right now, our primary interest is sending the robot into situations where you want to collect information in an environment where it's too dangerous to send a person, but not actually physically interacting with the space."
The dogs are manufactured by Boston Dynamics, who allegedly have a lease agreement with the police which states that the Spot dogs can be used to "physically harm or intimidate people".
Now, the American Civil Liberties Union wants details about how and when the robots will be used. This includes transparency about whether or not the dogs will be armed.
In a statement to Techcrunch, they said: "All too often, the deployment of these technologies happens faster than our social, political, or legal systems react.”
"We urgently need more transparency from government agencies, who should be upfront with the public about their plans to test and deploy new technologies."
Massachusetts must do more to ensure safeguards keep pace with technological innovation, and the ACLU is happy to partner with officials at the local and state levels to find and implement solutions to ensure our law keeps pace with technology."
Boston Dynamics will begin selling the robots in the coming months, but no date or price has currently been provided.
