Meet the Crime-Fighting Robot That's Stirring Up Controversy

[Narrator] It's five feet tall, three feet wide,

and weighs in at 400 pounds.

[Robot] Excuse me.

[Narrator] It patrols 24/7,

navigating like a self-navigating car

and monitoring everything around it.

And you'll have to believe me when I say,

it's meant to help humans, not exterminate them.

This is the K5 security robot.

It's part of a growing lineup of machines from Knightscope.

They're not armed in any way,

but instead are designed as a crime deterrent.

Every time some atrocious terrorist activity,

criminal activity happens across our country,

our political leaders stand up and say what?

We extend our thoughts and prayers.

No amount amount of thoughts and prayers

is gonna fix this problem.

[Narrator] Knightscope thinks the solution is robotics.

Their machines work alongside human security guards

as an extra set of eyes and ears.

One of the first and most important things

is to provide a physical presence

to deter negative behavior.

So very simply, if I put a marked law enforcement vehicle

in front of your home or your office,

criminal behavior changes.

If you put a five foot tall, 400 pound machine there,

that'll deter a good amount of negative behavior.

And then the machines collect over

90 terabytes of data a year

that the guards then can use to have

unprecedented situational awareness

and also to detect any kind of anomalies in the area.

[Narrator] Should you come across a Knightscope robot,

know that you're being recorded

which in a way is nothing new.

Our world has been covered in security cameras for years,

but this feels different.

It's a robot, and it's kind of endearing

in its own weird way.

But it's also a surveillance machine.

The concept of privacy in a public area

is a little bit odd.

You have no expectation of privacy in a public area

and where all these machines are operating.

[Narrator] Knightscope says the response

to its robots has been positive.

Kids in particular seem to dig it.

But not everyone is thrilled.

The San Francisco SPCA had to fire their K5 robot

after public outcry that it was deterring

homeless encampments.

In a statement to Wired, they told us

that their intention was to prevent crime,

not to disrupt homeless residents.

There's also the question of bias.

Security robots should be impartial,

but what if one day they target certain demographics

based on human stereotypes?

These guys run on ones and zeroes, on or off.

We're not doing profiling or anything like that.

We're doing anomalies that humans should then

go investigate further.

[Narrator] Still as more and more robots roam our world,

we have to start thinking about the ethical quandaries

they'll raise.

Until then, hands to yourself please.