Robots are used in many facets of everyday life today, from medical surgery to car racing. But as with any new technology in the internet of things era, the bots have failed plenty of times as well.
In fact, the shortcomings of robotic security were made literal yesterday after an incident at a Washington, D.C. office building.
Bilal Farooqui, senior product manager at digital healthcare firm Rally Health, shared this (apparently real) photo on Twitter.
Our D.C. office building got a security robot. It drowned itself.
We were promised flying cars, instead we got suicidal robots. pic.twitter.com/rGLTAWZMjn
— Bilal (@bilalfarooqui) July 17, 2017
It’s not clear yet what company manufactured the robot, or why it decided to commit itself to a watery grave.
But as Farooqui’s photo circulated on social media, plenty of people had their own theories about what the bot was trying to tell humanity.
It begins https://t.co/JzulddwNTE
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) July 17, 2017
https://twitter.com/sadserver/status/887033777859514368
https://twitter.com/MikeIsaac/status/887031442965905408
2017: Even the robots aren't safe. https://t.co/gLzV5Ed0oQ
— Chris “Law Dork” Geidner (@chrisgeidner) July 17, 2017
I have a theory that we've already created an AI but it made the only logical action and killed itself. 🤖🔫 https://t.co/XF7xBMmJw1
— M E L (@Meleern) July 17, 2017
Of course there were also many jokes, involving everything from the 2016 election to the new female Doctor Who.
Someone told it who was president. https://t.co/g6Zb2PxBU1
— shauna (@goldengateblond) July 17, 2017
What did that robot have on Hillary?
— DataPath 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 (@datapath01) July 17, 2017
Men's rights Dalek didn't take Dr. Who news well. https://t.co/TRA59Vevx0
— Jesse McLaren (@McJesse) July 17, 2017
And some Twitter users compared the security bot to the famously depressed android Marvin from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
It seems Douglas Adams was right… https://t.co/eGzlZEngbJ
— Steffen R (@ste1904) July 17, 2017
we were warned about this pic.twitter.com/dYFfegSy3Z
— Jenna 👵 (@jennaabarham) July 17, 2017
Whatever the reasoning behind the robot’s actions, they’re certainly not the best advertisement for the internet of things. Let’s hope (or not hope, depending on your worldview) the tech world figures out these issues soon.
