We have been trying to warn about this for years, but it seems that the politicians and military of the moment have a fixed idea: let's build robots, develop artificial intelligences... and make them pull the trigger. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitri Rogozin shared on Twitter the progress of the FEDOR platform, which will travel to space in 2021, but before that they decided to equip the robot with two firearms so it could practice a little...

FEDOR, the Russian Terminator That Shoots with Both Hands
FEDOR

A Robot with Many Talents

If we search for videos that show the FEDOR robot in action (Final Experimental Demonstration Object Research), we will see some very interesting abilities. The robot can weld, use drills, cut wood, get into a car and drive, open a lock with its key, and even put out fires. In other words, it is a robot with the ability to repair and build, two activities that have enormous value these days and carry a certain sense of nobility, if you will. The plan is for FEDOR to travel alone to space in 2021 as the sole pilot, and once there, it will provide the necessary assistance to astronauts. That all sounded very good... until Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin posted this on his Twitter account:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZthsfBJYyh4

“We are not building a Terminator, but an artificial intelligence that will have great practical importance in various fields,” Rogozin said. But unless FEDOR was secretly designed to repel an alien invasion about which we know nothing, the idea that a robot with such precision can shoot two firearms at once is a bit worrying. For now, FEDOR has the same limitations as any other similar design, starting with the power source; however, with enough time and money, those limitations should disappear.

FEDOR, the Russian Terminator That Shoots with Both Hands
Terminator, Cylon... at this point it's all the same

What’s Next?

I imagine the next step will be to repeat the test with heavier weaponry. FEDOR doesn’t get tired, doesn’t feel pain... yes, that sounds similar to a certain movie. To tell the truth, those two pistols look like small change on the robot, and although it’s likely it will never reach the battlefield in its current form, it will surely serve as the basis for much more complex developments.

(Editor’s note: The video was taken from Twitter and published on YouTube by an unofficial account, so it could disappear in the short term.)

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