Robot’s suicide in South Korea causes shock, stirs debate over workload and ethics
The details of the occurrence of the incident are still not well understood, with a particular emphasis on the reason why the robot was acting the way it did.
A robot employed by the Gumi City Council in South Korea was found unresponsive after an apparent fall down a flight of stairs. The incident occurred around 4 p.m. last Thursday, and the local community is now mourning what is being described as the country’s first robot suicide, according to the Daily Mail.
The incident was recorded by the Gumi City Council, where the ‘Robot Supervisor’ was found damaged and left on the stairwell of the building where the council is located, between the first and second floors. The details of the occurrence of the incident are still not well understood, with a particular emphasis on the reason why the robot was acting the way it did. The witnesses reported the robot to be “circling in one spot as if something were there.” “The pieces have been collected and will be analyzed by the company,” the city council responded.
The robot, which is part of the city hall, has been performing the daily tasks of document delivery and distribution, city advertisement, and providing information to the citizens. “It was officially a part of the city hall, one of us,” said an official from City Hall. The second participant said, “It worked diligently.” The story of the robot’s suspected suicide made a stir in the local media and the Internet forums, and many people doubted whether it was overworked and what led to it.
The robot was recruited and assumed duty in August 2023, making it among the pioneers to hold such a position in the city. The robot designed and created by Californian start-up Bear Robotics, which is famous for robot waiters, was active between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. and even had its own civil service officer card. The Gumi City Council robot also had the added advantage of moving throughout the building, as unlike most robots, such robots are normally restricted to a single floor.
South Korea, renowned for its rapid embrace of robotics, has the world’s highest robot density, with one industrial robot for every 10 employees, according to the International Federation of Robotics. Despite this, following the recent incident, the Gumi City Council announced that it currently has no plans to introduce another robot officer.
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