Robot Wages War on the Homeless, the Homeless Fight Back

The fleet of laser-equipped robots patrolling parking lots and company campuses in San Francisco has met resistance from the city's homeless population, after one machine was deployed to prevent tent encampments from forming. According to the San Francisco Business Times, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals began using one of the robots in its parking lots and along the sidewalks around its premises in early November to prevent homeless people from settling there. But within a week, people attempting to set up a camp took offense at the robot and attacked it. SPCA President Jennifer Scarlett told the publication that the people "put a tarp over [the robot], knocked it over and put barbecue sauce on all the sensors." Scarlett added, "I can understand being scared about a new technology on the street, and we should be asking questions about it, but we should probably be a little bit angry that a nonprofit has to spend so much on security at the same time."