Russian philosopher calls for robot-led cities across country

Philosopher Aleksandr Dugin has proposed populating Russia’s major cities with robots and transferring urban governance to them. According to him, large-scale robotization should become one of the country’s key development priorities, regardless of financial constraints, The Moscow Times reports.

“We will not become slave owners, but robot owners,” Dugin told Mash Money while discussing his vision of Russia’s future. He said the country requires a comprehensive program of robotization and the transfer of administrative functions to artificial intelligence.

“We must populate the country with an army of Russian robots. If there is no money for robots, we will print it... A robot will stand at the head of each city,” he said. Dugin added that financial considerations are secondary in such a model, while the primary objective should be achieving technological sovereignty. In his view, robotization should form a core part of Russia’s long-term national development strategy.

Dugin also outlined what he sees as the advantages of robots over humans. “First, they are more interesting. Second, they are more intelligent, then they are more hardworking. They are not surrounded by flesh, which makes an ordinary person want to sleep, eat, or go for a walk. They are focused on their goal... I think we should be like robots. Then we will not be replaced,” he said.

In earlier remarks on his blog, Dugin called for stronger state control over society, describing it as an inevitable feature of the modern world. He argued that citizens should accept that control exists universally and that it is preferable for it to be exercised by their own state rather than external actors.

“If it is not ours, it will be someone else’s. Yes, that is the world we live in; there is no other world for you,” he wrote. Dugin also said that the idea of a society without control is utopian and unrealistic, adding that such control should be exercised “with intelligence, care, and attention.”

By Vafa Guliyeva