WATCH: Robot Dog Enforces Social Distancing, What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

Because 2020 hasn’t been apocalyptic enough already, the coronavirus pandemic has unleashed a new challenge to liberty and humanity: robot dogs who enforce social distancing.

If murder hornets and a global pandemic aren’t quite enough, Singapore is now testing out a robot dog who enforces social distancing with an odd combination of soothing and abject future-shock terror. From The Los Angeles Times:

A cyclist in a brimmed hat rides past. Spot pipes up, not with a bark, but with a recorded message.

“Let’s keep Singapore healthy,” comes a woman’s voice, polite but firm. “For your own safety, and for those around you, please stand at least one meter apart. Thank you.”

The cyclist, presumably, then craps his pants.

Spot is the brainchild of Boston Dynamics, and while the prospect of canine robot overlords is spooky, the current model doesn’t sound like much of a threat:

Developed by Boston Dynamics of Waltham, Mass., Spot is one of the world’s most advanced commercial robots, last seen opening doors, hauling a truck or dancing to Bruno Mars in a slate of mesmerizing promotional videos. Its two-week pilot in a park here is seen as a test of how machines and artificial intelligence could help reduce human contact in public spaces as some governments begin easing social restrictions.

“The world is watching to see what happens with the Spot trial,” said David De Cremer, a Belgian scholar and director of the Center on AI Technology for Humankind at the National University of Singapore. “It’s a glimpse of the future.”

The semiautonomous Spot, which can walk up to 3 mph over uneven terrain, detect obstacles with 360-degree vision and get up after it falls, captures the promise and terror of a mechanized future in which robots assist in human tasks — or replace them altogether. Its whirring joints and eerily precise prowl inspired an episode of the dystopian British TV series “Black Mirror,” which envisioned a breed of human-hunting robot dogs.

Still, ED-209 couldn’t walk down stairs, but you wouldn’t want to meet up with him on a bike path.

Singapore Parks and Recreation Spokesperson Kyle Reese offered a blunt assessment of the automated pooch’s capabilities, telling reporters “It doesn’t feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are six feet apart and wearing a face covering.”

Watch Spot in action above via CNBC.