If the A.I. robots aren’t coming for your job, the cockroaches just might be. Scientists are now working on what they call “Paraborgs”, cybernetic cockroaches that could provide help in emergencies.

Imagine you are trapped under rubble after an earthquake and you see an electronics-covered cockroach with a spring-loaded needle on its back scuttling toward you.

Once again, do I have to?! First diving cockroaches, and now cockroaches delivering medicine? Send in a cute rescue dog or just leave me to die in peace, sans roaches.

The article also notes:

The researchers acknowledge that “for someone who is already trapped or injured, seeing a cyborg insect approaching could understandably be a little surprising or unsettling at first,” Vo-Doan says. Ways to make it clear these insects were part of rescue efforts might include flashing lights, recognizable emergency markings, “or perhaps a tiny speaker delivering a simple message such as, ‘help is on the way,’” Vo-Doan adds.

If the needle-armed cockroach that sidles up to me while I’m trapped under a collapsed building also has a speaker asserting that help is on the way, I really don’t think it’s going to put me at ease.