A $75,000 robot dog seen leaving a Manhattan housing project has outraged city residents who heard less than a month ago that the pricey Boston Dynamics bots would be banned from being used as weapons.

While the New York Police Department insisted the faux-canine had not played an “active role” in the operation, which allegedly involved removing an armed man from an apartment belonging to a woman and her baby, its appearance seemed to cast a spell over the assembled residents.

The NYPD insisted that it “has been using robots since the 1970s to save lives in hostage situations & hazmat incidents,” so it wants Digidog to serve these particular purposes. Still, the dog is equipped with AI, meaning it has the possibility of going rogue, and features up-to-the-minute tracking technology including cameras and sensors. All that’s needed to turn it into a killer weapon is a few modifications.

Sisanda Mpiti.