Samsung is working with the South Korean government to develop robotic guards to protect military bases and strategic sites, according to the company’s Web site. Philip Argy, president of the Australian Computer Society, questions the wisdom of creating robots that could kill human beings.

In a recent essay Argy hearkens back to the so-called “laws of robotics” spelled out decades ago by science fiction author Isaac Asimov, who began with the precept that: “A robot may not harm a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.”

A spokesman for the South Korean embassy in Washington said it is not clear whether the robotic guards would simply sound the alarm if they detected an intruder or take some type of autonomous action to quell the threat. Samsung’s Web site says its roboguard can be equipped with lethal or non-lethal weapons.

(SFGate)