By Futurist Thomas Frey
When Captain Kirk calmly ordered his crew to “set phasers to stun,” the idea seemed simple—technology that could neutralize danger without ending lives. But in today’s world of rapidly advancing robotics and autonomous systems, that once-fanciful command is becoming a design challenge for engineers and ethicists alike. The question is no longer if machines can neutralize human threats non-lethally, but how—and under what moral framework they should be allowed to act.
We are entering an era where robots will routinely make split-second decisions about human behavior. From law enforcement and border security to disaster response and crowd control, autonomous machines are being given both mobility and agency. Soon, they won’t just assist human officers—they’ll replace them in many high-risk scenarios. And that requires an entirely new way of thinking about the use of force, responsibility, and restraint.
Continue reading… “Beyond “Stun”: How Robots Could Safely Disarm Humans”