Robots have long been among the most popular subjects of science fiction, portrayed as either obedient helpers to humans or potential threats.
In both cases, they were merely seen as parts of entertaining stories set in distant futures.
However, today, robots are increasingly widespread, assisting humans and organisations in multiple industries in various ways. Robotics is a very rapidly growing industry. According to GlobalData, it will be worth $218bn by 2030, up from $63bn in 2022.
As robots grew more sophisticated and use cases increased, people naturally wondered how similar they were becoming to humans. Questions and philosophical discussions regarding whether they have consciousness, self-awareness, and emotions like humans became household topics. These were also fuelled by the recent advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), a theme that has always been intertwined with robotics.
One related incident recently caught the headlines and caused quite a confusion.
Robot seemingly commits suicide
The Daily Mail reported that a civil servant robot in South Korea “killed” itself as it fell from a staircase under suspicious circumstances.
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By GlobalDataThe ‘Robot Supervisor’, built by Bear Robotics, was employed in the Gumi City Council since August 2023 and even carried a civil officer card. Its responsibilities included assisting with documentary deliveries, promoting the city, and providing information to locals.
The robot was seen circling a spot for no apparent reason before it ‘threw itself’ down a two-meter staircase. After this, people made various guesses about the cause of this alleged ‘suicide’. Some even questioned whether the robot killed itself because it felt that its tasks and work were just too hard.
Although this incident was instantly labelled as a suicide by some, the true reason behind the robot’s behaviour is still under investigation.
Was this a suicide?
Despite the headlines, not everyone believes that this was indeed a suicide. The most convincing arguments say that this incident probably occurred due to a glitch or a malfunction in the robot’s sensors or navigation equipment, or simply because of a programming bug.
This might well be the case as, to commit suicide, the robot must be capable of having self-awareness and feelings. According to GlobalData, self-aware and conscious AI systems that can understand their internal states are still decades away.
So, the robot could not have experienced any emotion that could have led it to commit suicide. However, this does not mean that something like this will never happen.
Robots will be more like humans
We may still be years away from the emotional humanoid, David, of 2001’s A.I. Artificial Intelligence, but as robotics and AI capabilities increase, robots will be more and more like humans. Even today, people have gotten married to AI, showing how much progress has already been made in bringing AI closer to humankind.
Moreover, AI start-ups like Figure and Bright Machines—which focus on harnessing AI to make robots more intelligent, independent, and efficient in complex environments—have been and still are on the radar of investors. Increased funding to such companies will accelerate the development of intelligent and more capable robots.
There are even robots sophisticated enough to mimic human-like behaviours (to a certain extent). For instance, Engineered Arts’ Ameca can crack jokes, make predictions, and becomes visibly irritated when poked.
To learn the truth behind the story in South Korea, we will have to wait for the robot to be examined. No matter the outcome, this will not be the last time we hear of a curious incident involving a robot.
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Daily Mail and General Trust Plc