Does a Robot Get to Be the Boss of Me?

I'm disturbed by the fact that law enforcement agencies are increasingly using robots for neutralizing threats, surveillance, and hostage situations. Maybe I've just seen RoboCop too many times, but I'm wary of machines making crucial, life-or-death decisions--especially given how often actual human officers abuse their authority. Do I have any kind of moral obligation to obey a police robot? Hollywood has not been particularly optimistic about robots in positions of authority. RoboCop is just one example of the broader sci-fi canon that has burned into our minds the tragic consequences of relinquishing critical tasks to inflexible machines--robots whose prime directives are honored with a literalism that can turn lethal, who can blast a person to death but are confounded by a set of stairs.