As I'm fond of pointing out, we solve today's problems with tomorrow's technology. But there's a flip side to that, namely that tomorrow's technology can create all manner of new problems. The rise of drones, robotics, and artificial intelligence is a great example of that. The new problem? The use of robots, drones and so forth, not only in warfare, but in crime. It's a problem that has some top cops worried.
The use of autonomous drones on the battlefield has already raised plenty of murky ethical questions. Many experts and human rights groups have decried the use of killer robots, particularly when you consider the possibilities of technological flaws resulting in the deaths of innocent people — not to mention using the tech to commit atrocities with no direct human involvement.
But what would happen if such a technology were to land in the hands of terrorists and criminals, who aren’t beholden to the norms of modern warfare at all? In a new report, pan-European police agency Europol’s Innovation Lab has imagined a not-so-distant future in which criminals could hijack autonomous vehicles, drones, and humanoid robots to sow chaos — and how law enforcement will have to step up as a result.
Imagined, yes, but this doesn't seem at all unlikely. While most common crooks aren't exactly ringing any bells in the IQ sweepstakes, there are always a few smarter ones who could figure out how to use new technologies to nefarious purposes.
By the year 2035, the report warns that law enforcement departments will need to deal with “crimes by robots, such as drones” that are “used as tools in theft,” not to mention “automated vehicles causing pedestrian injuries” — an eventuality we’ve already seen in numerous cases.
Humanoid robots could also complicate matters “as they could be designed to interact with humans in a more sophisticated way, potentially making it more difficult to distinguish between intentional and accidental behavior,” the report notes.
So, the problem isn't the devices themselves or the software that runs them, so much as the possibility that humans could bypass safety measures or otherwise hack these systems.
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Granted, this is a very real concern. The use of drones to do an overhead recon of a crime target, well, that could happen now. As robotics, semi-autonomous drones, and other AI-controlled devices get more and more sophisticated, the odds of them being used somehow in a crime or, worse, a terrorist attack, increase.
Here's the catch: While the Europol effort makes a good point, it's important to remember that no matter how sophisticated, no matter how capable a robot, a drone, or the AI that may control it becomes, it's still just a tool. It won't do to focus too much attention on these tools when it's the actor, the criminal, or the terrorist behind the action, that is the problem. This is the same probably American would-be gun-banners face; the same logical fallacy applies. To deal with crime and terrorism, one must deal with the root cause. That root cause is always a person or group of people, never a tool, and the root cause is always the juncture at which a person or a group of people made a decision.
The drones, the robots, the AI, those are not and won't be the problem. It's the people who use them that are and will be the cause of any particular problem. This is a case where we can solve tomorrow's problems with today's technology, and that technology can be as simple as the steel bars on a prison cell's door.
https://redstate.com/wardclark/2025/12/26/robot-revolution-sparks-new-crime-surge-alert-n2197504
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