(Newswire.net — April 28, 2015) — When you visit Dubai or Abu Dhabi two years from now, don’t be surprised if you see robots patrolling streets. You should reconsider poking them because they would be regular police officers. According to UAE Police official, Emirate’s Police are planning to ‘hire’ interactive patrolling robots by 2017. He also said that “fully intelligent robots” could be on the force by the end of the decade.
“We are aiming to provide these kinds of services as the populations are expanding. This way we can provide better services without hiring more people,” Colonel Khalid Nasser Alrazooqi, who heads the city’s ‘smart’ unit, said during a keynote speech at the Gulf Information Security Expo and Conference, Dubai’s Khaleej Times report.
The question is why the government of one of the world safest places wants to invest in a bunch of crime-stopping sensors instead of investing in real people. According to Colonel Alrazooqi, the first generation of robots will be dispatched to crowded, but generally, safe, public spaces such as malls, and Dubai and Abu Dhabi has one of the largest shopping centers in the world.
“The robots will interact directly with people and tourists. They will include an interactive screen and microphone connected to the Dubai Police call centers. People will be able to ask questions and make complaints, but they will also have fun interacting with the robots,” Alrazooqi told Khaleej Times.
According to the Dubai’s police official, full AI model could become a part of the UAE force within the next “four to five years.”
“These will be fully intelligent robots that can interact with people, with no human intervention at all. This is still under research and development, but we are planning on it,” he said.
With a small population, vast funds, UAE strives to promote itself as the world’s leader in technology. According to the police official, Dubai police officers could soon be wearing Google Glass as standard police equipment, with face recognition ability and instant access to crime records database.
Beside ultra modern architecture and tallest building on the planet, police robots are expected not only to protect and serve, but to become apart of Dubai’s landscape, the official said.