South Korea Now Has Robot Prison Guards

One day we will all have to report to our robot overlords. For some prisoners in South Korea, that day is now.

The world's first robot prison guard is being tested in South Korea's penal system. The droid scoots around the facility studying the prisoners' behavior and alerts human prison guards if there is any funny business going on.

According to Lee Baik-Chul, Chairman of the Asian Forum for Correction:

By using the 3D depth camera, it will detect every detail of actions happening inside through a window. So, when there is an unusual behaviour, it’s going to analyse it and report the problem to the control system. Therefore, correctional officers will run and arrive at the scene in time.”

The robot is able to patrol the prison autonomously, but can also be controlled by an iPad. The prisonbots developers are working on giving their droid the ability to also conduct body searches. Shudder.

What to do you think? Could you imagine an American prison with a robot guard anytime soon?