Meanwhile in China: Shouting Robot Dogs Roam the Streets to Enforce Lockdown, Nothing Strange There

Robot dogs, once man’s new best friend, are quickly becoming man’s worst enemy on the streets of Shanghai. Who knew the robot uprising would start here?

Authorities in China are using the latest in pet technology to help in their lockdown campaign. As Covid BA.2 variant continues to dance with humans, the government is finding innovative non-human ways to spread their message. This means loudspeakers attached to robot dogs roaming the streets of Shanghai shouting at people to go home.

While the metropolis of 26 million is split into two blocs with slightly different rules governing Covid response, the underlying message is clear: don’t go outside. Not even to take out your trash or walk your robot dog. In fact, lockdown measures are so severe that the government is ordering all pets within Covid households to be terminated (to make way for the rise of robot dogs obviously).

Fine by us. Who needs a pet when you have android love? Come on, look how cute these cyborg pooches are:

Full Lockdown in Shanghai, this is how they broadcast announcements.

Robot Dog + Speakers#Shanghai #COVID #Lockdown pic.twitter.com/5kJdLrnL8p

— Jay in Shanghai 电动 Jay (@JayinShanghai) March 29, 2022

In case you don’t speak Mandarin, the message roughly translates to: “Move along! Nothing to see here! Just a robot dog barking orders to further the authoritarian regime. Perfectly normal!”

Covid rates in China (a country of 1.4 billion) are currently about one-third as bad as they are in the U.S. where most of us are pretending it’s totally over. Still, Jay in Shanghai had better watch it with those posts of himself roaming the streets during a lockdown. Chinese censorship aside, once the robot dogs are updated with “attack mode,” his videos are going to have a very different ending.

Cover Photo: China News Service (Getty Images)