An American robotics company, Foundation, has sent its Phantom MK-1 humanoid robot to Ukraine to be tested in combat conditions. Don’t panic. The robot isn’t being armed for battle. But that is the eventual plan, according to company co-founder Mike LeBlanc.
LeBlanc, speaking to Time Magazine, explained that it makes more sense to send robots to the front lines. The Phantom MK-1 isn’t there as a combatant, but the plan is for the bot to eventually use “any kind of weapon that a human can.”
Military Foundation
Two of Foundation’s robots have been in Ukraine since February, according to reports. Their main role, aside from real-world testing, is reconnaissance. It won’t be taking up arms for the present, but its time in the field will probably push it in that direction. The American Pentagon also has an interest in these robots, but hasn’t put them into action that we know of.
Foundation certainly has designs on something military-capable with the Phantom’s design. It stands 1.8 metres tall, weighs 80kg, and lugs around 40kg at a time. Those stats closely match human military soldier dimensions and capabilities. The Phantom also has cycloidal actuators and torque measurements (160Nm max), something regular soldiers don’t have. Again, that we know of. Who knows what the Pentagon brass actually measures about their troops when they’re not looking.
There are obvious concerns with creating humanoid robots specifically for war. Robot and AI discernment are awful compared to human beings. The same robots could also be deployed domestically by the governments (or companies) that own them. Entire genres of fiction have been created around just this concept. But there’s an upside, and that’s fewer humans being shot in overseas wars. Whether it’ll all balance out remains to be seen, but Foundation’s deployment makes it almost certain that we’ll see it eventually.
‘Eventually’ might be a while. There’s footage of Foundation’s robot being developed, but little showing its military capability. The ‘bot’s official web page does have a nice video of it packing beverages into gift boxes, though.
