Skynet Is Coming: Ford Files Patent For Autonomous Police Vehicle

Autonomous Ubers, taxis, and delivery vehicles are most certainly coming our way. But those aren’t the only driverless vehicles arriving in the near future. If Ford has its way, the automaker will put an autonomous police car onto the road.

Ford applied for an interesting patent involving an autonomous police vehicle in the summer of 2016, which was published last week. The patent, which can be fully examined at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office’s website, involves a police car that can operate on its own or with an officer at the driver’s seat.

In addition to driving on its own, the proposed vehicle will use artificial intelligence to control various on-board speed detection components, including cameras, to capture speeders in the act. That’s impressive, but the vehicle can also pursue a speeder on its own. When it catches up to the assailant, it can wirelessly deliver a citation or a warning. The real kicker is that the vehicle can make the choice on whether to hand the driver a ticket or a stern warning.

With a highly-evolved AI controlling the vehicle, it reminds us of The Terminator’s Skynet. But perhaps we shouldn’t get too worked up. At least not yet, as for now it’s just a patent. Ford probably just wanted to call dibs on an autonomous patrol vehicle, as the automaker provides its interceptors to police departments around the U.S.

Drivers will also bring up the issue of the autonomous vehicle handing out tickets, which sounds similar to traffic-light cameras – and those, as some can attest to, aren’t 100 percent accurate.

Anyway, an AI-controlled patrol vehicle does raise a lot of questions. We hope that, by the time they start rolling into the streets, both automakers and legislators will have the answers all figured out.