Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge
For years now, robot maker Boston Dynamics’ Spot has acted as a symbol of the impending robot takeover, despite the best efforts of its creators to position it as a helpful and multi-skilled human companion. The dog-like bot has been seen opening doors and briskly covering ground at scary speeds, and its signature aesthetic has even inspired a sinister Black Mirror episode about far-future, robotic human hunters. But Spot may not be the manifestation of Skynet that most AI scaremongers want to think it is.
According to documents obtained by OneZero detailing a Spot trial with the Massachusetts State Police, the robot can fall short in real-world scenarios and even fail to work entirely. The trial lasted 90 days starting in August of…