Robots to protect Hungary’s borders?
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National border control strategy reveals that “autonomous swarms of robots” as well as drones can be expected to take part in the protection of Hungary’s southern borders, beginning as early as the end of 2021. Nevertheless, at this point, even the cabinet admitted that the migration crisis for Hungary was over.
According to Népszava, Hungary is taking part in developing so-called “autonomous swarms of robots with the aim of border protection.” The proposed date of when the robots would join the work to protect the country’s borders is the end of 2021.
We know from the police’s website that the technical development of the robots has been in progress since 2017, with the support of the EU Horizon 2020 fund. Numerous EU countries and safety organisations are a part of the project nicknamed “Roborder.”
For instance, in Hungary, the Hungarian National Police Headquarters (ORFK) offered HUF 83.7 million (EUR 253,360) of support to the project.
Most of the information about how the Roborder system would work is classified. So far, we know that the system will be made up of moving robotic units, such as small vehicles with wheels, that patrol the area autonomously and make recordings. There will also be surveillance drones. Based on the robots and drones’ observations, officers in charge will decide whether “live backup” is needed.
Even though in Hungary, there has not been too much emphasis put on the ongoing developments of the border protection system, the journal called The Intercept reported about it as early as this May.
According to the IT experts interviewed by the reputable journal, implementing a combination of autonomous robots and drones is dangerous territory, as the money the EU gave was not for military purposes. However, Noel Sharkey, a professor working with artificial intelligence (AI) at the University of Sheffield, said that in countries where border protection is a political issue, “it is only a matter of time that these drones will be made capable of stopping people.”