South Korea records its first robot ‘suicide’
By Carl Samson
Nearly a year into its operations, the first civil servant robot of Gumi City, South Korea, was discovered unresponsive after falling down a staircase in the city council building. The incident, which occurred at around 4 p.m. on June 20, has been dubbed the country’s first robot “suicide.”
- What happened: Witnesses reported seeing the machine, known as “Robot Administrator,” first spinning in place “as if something was there.” It then moved toward the stairs that connected the first and second floors and fell approximately two meters, resulting in significant damage. The city council collected its parts for analysis to determine the exact cause of the fall.
- About the robot: The robot, a product of Silicon Valley-based Bear Robotics, had been functioning efficiently prior to the incident, working from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Designed to call elevators and move between floors on its own, it delivered mail and administrative documents between the first and fourth floors of the building and ran promotional activities. Theories posted on social media about the incident range from mechanical failure to overwork.
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