San Francisco with robot police?
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff has sparked controversy in San Francisco again after proposing the use of robot police officers, driven by artificial intelligence, to fight crime in the city.
His suggestion came during the company's annual conference, Dreamforce, just days after he shocked public opinion by supporting President Donald Trump's idea of sending the National Guard to the city.
During a conversation with Brett Adcock, CEO of robotics company Figure AI, Benioff asked whether the humanoid robots the company is developing could serve the San Francisco police. “You’re 500 or 1000 fewer officers. Why not use robots for some of these tasks, even if they’re not armed?” he said. Adcock tried to dodge the question, stressing that his company would not develop robots for military or violent use.
Benioff, however, did not back down, making an ironic comment: "Even Google used to say the same thing." He humorously added that if robots become "self-replicating," they can choose for themselves what they want to do, reports A2 CNN.
These statements came after an interview with The New York Times, where Benioff stated that he "fully supports" Trump and is "in favor" of sending in the National Guard to fight crime. "We don't have enough police officers, so if they can be police officers, I'm totally in favor," he said.
Local officials reacted sharply. Mayor Daniel Lurie and Attorney General Brooke Jenkins stressed that crime in San Francisco has fallen to its lowest level in 70 years. “We don’t want chaos or tear gas on our streets,” Jenkins said.
After the criticism, Benioff tried to soften his stance, stressing that his goal was to keep the city safe during the conference, which hosted 45,000 visitors. He also promised $1 million in recruiting bonuses for the San Francisco Police Department.
