To cleanse the palate. This comes from Boston Dynamics, the same firm that’s building the “robot dog” that’s an obvious precursor to the killer mecha-Cujos from that “Black Mirror” episode.

As you’ll see below, they’re still working on improving those too. The things can now navigate autonomously, including stairs. I wonder how many time-travelers from the future this company has already had to quietly kill to prevent them from sabotaging its work.

No, actually, I think this story will end happily when the Pentagon buys a fleet of Cujos, outfits them with flamethrowers, and turns them loose on an ISIS compound in Syria. No need to forward deploy troops to oversee the operation either. Just give the “sic ’em” command and let Google Duplex handle the rest.