It seems that pretty much everyone is welcoming our new robot overlords. I randomly happened on a blog post over at SmartDogs, a site devoted to breeders, owners and enthusiasts for working dogs.

Unsurprisingly, robotics has progressed to the point where a lot of the ‘dangerous’ jobs typically reserved for animals (bomb sniffing and such) can now be handled by advanced robotics:

Release the fleas! SWAT and other urban assault teams could soon be deploying packs of all-seeing, hopping robots armed with mini missiles to ferret out the bad guys.

The EyeDrive unmanned ground vehicle (UGV)uses remote-controlled 360-degree panoramic video technology and a patented Point & Go sensor guidance mode to run down and “instinctively eliminate” human targets at ranges of up to 90 feet, according to ODF Optronics

The reaction was surprisingly sane (in a day and age where everyone, it seems, is protective of their turf the way a bureaucrat is protective of their budget):

While we love working dogs, we’re glad to see that robots are taking this dangerous work away from dogs — and men. It sounds like (if the government doesn’t go dead broke) we’ll be seeing more of them.

Quite honestly, I’m surprised. I’ve been touting predictions from Kurzweil’s books since the 90’s, and only recently has such a progressive attitude been adopted by the general public. Most people seemed to, at least in the past, instinctively react with fear and trepidation about the infiltration of robots and hyper-advanced technology to our daily lives.

Have we finally reached a point where people have been numbed by endless Will Smith and Keanu Reeves movies to where they just accept it?

Perhaps the guys over at Working Dog just haven’t seen this fire breathing monstrosity yet.