Thailand Rings in New Year With Drone and CCTV-Powered Robot Cop

On April 16th, Thailand’s Royal Thai Police introduced their newest colleague, “AI Police Cyborg 1.0,” in a Facebook post stating that the robot was deployed on Tonson Road in Muang District. One photograph shows the robot dressed in a police uniform while it stands on a wheeled metal platform lined by other uniformed officials.

Jointly developed by the Provincial Police Command 7, Nakhon Pathom Provincial Police, and Nakhon Nakhon Pathon Municipality, the robot has a number of chilling capabilities including access to nearby CCTV cameras, drones, and its own 360-degree AI cameras equipped with facial recognition, behavioral analysts, weapon detection, and blacklist alerts. Officials say its video analytics are advanced enough to differentiate water guns from real weapons and identify violent behavior.

According to the RTP’s Facebook post, the AI Police Cyborg 1.0 is linked with the province’s Command and Control center “for efficient event safety management.” Ostensibly, enhancing public safety is the robot’s main purpose, hence its name: Police Colonel Nakhonpathom Plod Phai, or “Nakhon Pathom is safe”. A spokesperson told ABP Live, “The AI Police Cyborg 1.0 helps us enhance public safety, especially during large events where traditional policing resources can be stretched thin. It’s a force multiplier that never tires and maintains constant vigilance.”

On the surface, that might sound nice. But buying into the idea that a police robot with a slew of surveillance capabilities is just meant for event management is unlikely, especially when considering the Thai police’s record of brutality against activists. (Coincidentally, on April 16, Bloomberg reported that Thai security services were doxxing pro-democracy activists on Facebook and X.)

Technology like AI Police Cyborg 1.0 has the potential for severe social and political repercussions. However, you may not have to freak out yet. Police robots have a long way to go before they can surpass the threat of more developed technologies like cell surveillance. Instead, they are disasters for a much less ominous reason: Being mid. For example, New York City abandoned its subway robot in an empty storefront after an underwhelming pilot, and a police robot in California once told a woman to go away when she tried using it for help.

Although the Thai police eagerly marketed their robot’s extensive AI capabilities, Futurism also noted that nobody has actually seen the thing move. Many robots still struggle to navigate obstacles like sidewalks or toddlers so it’s not far-fetched to suggest that the Thai robot either cannot move independently or it sucks at doing so. Given that and police robots’ global track records, Thailand’s robot is unlikely to live up to its full, dystopian potential for now.