‘KILLER ROBOTS,’

HBO documentary a creepy look at artificial intelligence

In 1942, author Isaac Asimov postulated the Three Laws of Robotics: A robot shall not harm a human nor allow a human to become harmed through inaction. A robot shall obey a human so long as the orders do not interfere with the First Law. A robot shall protect itself so long as it does not interfere with the two previous laws. Those principles had a profound impact not just on science fiction but the world of artificial intelligence. A generation of scientists tried to instill his principles in their creations. Unfortunately, as the HBO documentary “The Truth About Killer Robots” reveals, we are much closer to “Terminator” and even “Westworld” than we are to Asimov’s benevolent dream. Robots have taken lives — and that body count will inevitably grow as artificial intelligence continues to make inroads into our lives. The documentary opens with the story of a worker who apparently wandered into a secure area at a Volkswagen plant in Germany. A robot pinned him against a metal wall and crushed his chest. A man was killed in Florida when his self-driving Tesla plowed into a tractortrailer at 74 mph. The sensors failed to detect the vehicle in front of him. He was watching a “Harry Potees, ter” film when he died. In Dallas, police rigged a bomb disposal robot to blow up a gunman who had killed five officers. One takeaway of “Killer Robots” is how automation is killing jobs. Martin Ford, author of “Rise of the Robots,” notes that huge swaths of people will be left behind as more industries become automated. And more people work in the service industry in the U.S. than anywhere else. A factory in China employed 3,200 workers in 2005 but still had a labor shortage. It bought robots; now it hums with about 800 employees. At a post office in China, where once 500 workers sorted packages, now there are only about 100 employ- each placing packages on robots that spin about like Roombas. “We earn less because we are working less,” one employee says. In Tokyo, a hotel is staffed only by robots. Here in the United States, a pizza chain uses robots to form an assembly line to make pies. One can lift a pie and place it into an oven 10,000 times a day. An enterprising lawyer has crafted AI that can draft documents. Robots are already mimicking human behavior with astonishing results. An android assures crowds at a convention that it can blink and move like a real woman. “You can tell my diet is a success because I have a nice body,” it tells onlookers at the convention. (The technology might be cutting-edge, but the sexism is right out of “Mad Men.”) In China, an engineer married his robot. “And she certainly has some adult-only functions. You can tell her keywords and she makes relevant sounds,” he says proudly. “Killer” feels lurid, thanks to creepy music and editing. That betrays and trivializes some serious issues. The narration could be more lifelike. Then again, it’s from a robot — Kodomoroid, identified as a host. Watch out, Ryan Seacrest.