In a 2018 study published in the journal International Studies Quarterly, scholars Kevin Young and Charli Carpenter explored popular culture’s effect on public opinion and policymakers. In one example, they determined that subjects with high “sci-fi literacy” will react to the prospect of robotic weaponry with more hostility than the layperson. In sum, the more science fiction you consume, the more likely you are to regard automata with fear and hostility. They call it the “sci-fi geek effect.” To judge by how the nation reacted to San Francisco’s brief experiment with legalizing “killer robots,” America is a nation of geeks.

Last week, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors quietly approved by an 8-3 vote a proposal that would allow the San Francisco Police Department to deploy remote-controlled robots capable of being equipped with lethal weapons. This week, following a national backlash, the Board of Supervisors loudly reversed itself.