In a recent incident at the Gyeongsangbuk-do Gumi City Hall in South Korea, a “robot civil servant” fell from a 2-meter high staircase, malfunctioned, and ceased to respond. Local media dubbed this as the country’s first robot suicide case.
The city hall announced the robot’s fall on June 26th. Authorities are still investigating the cause of this administrative robot’s fall down the stairs. They have gathered fragments for analysis by the relevant manufacturer.
Witnesses claimed that before the accident, the robot was seen circling a certain area, as if there was something there.
Gumi City introduced this robot in August last year. It was responsible for daily document delivery, city promotion, and conveying messages to local residents.
City officials mentioned, “It is an official member of the city hall, a part of our team, and it is hardworking.”
Manufactured by the US-based startup company Bear Robotics, this robot stands out for its ability to take elevators between floors rather than being restricted to a single floor for work.
Its working hours are from 9 am to 6 pm, just like regular civil servants, and it possesses its own staff ID.
Local media raised questions about this rare robot suicide incident: “Why would this diligent civil servant robot do this? Has the robot been overworked?”
The Gumi City Hall informed the news agency that they currently have no plans to acquire a second robot like this.
South Korea is one of the most enthusiastic users of robots in the world. Data from the International Federation of Robotics shows that South Korea has the highest industrial robot density globally, with one industrial robot for every ten employees.
In a similar incident in July 2017, a robot suicide occurred in the US as well. A security robot fell into a pool for unknown reasons. Some netizens joked that it was under too much work pressure and had to resort to “self-drowning” to strike.
According to The Verge, a security robot model called the Knightscope K5 fell into a pool outside an office in Washington D.C. The robot is designed for security patrol tasks, shaped like a rocket cone, but without limbs, making it unable to stand up on its own after falling.
Theoretically, the 1.5-meter-tall, 300-pound (136 kg) Knightscope K5 should be able to detect and avoid pools. However, for unknown reasons, it walked into the pool this time, seemingly ending its own existence.
Therefore, after the photo of it falling into the pool spread online, some netizens humorously suggested that it was fed up with its daily tasks and expressed protest in this manner.