Is this the first recorded incident of Robo-Suicide?

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By Matthew Griffin Robo Revolution 18th July 2017

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF

One day AI and robots might actually have feelings, and then this won’t be as funny…

Most science fiction films are famous for portraying Androids as wannabe humans, whether it’s Data from Star Trek, the freaky one from Aliens, or the nerdy looking one from the Robinsons, but now it looks like one robot, specifically a Knightscope K5, a Washington DC based security robot similar to those patrolling the malls of Dubai, has taken the desire to copy humans too far after its job got too much for it and it drowned itself in a pool. Either that or it just simply couldn’t get it’s head around the 23 Laws of Robotics that were published recently… who knows.

Rolls Royce is building cockroach like robots and snakes to fix airplane engines

While Twitter was obviously awash with funny meme’s before the robot had even sunk to the bottom of the fountain, as society races to create Artificially Intelligent (AI) robots that can run everything from your house to the stock market, laugh as we might there’s nothing to say that one day robots might actually be able to experience human emotions, after all, we’re already busy trying to get them to emulate them…

As everyone worries about rise of Robo-Automation and the impact that it’s having on jobs, both today and in the future, who knows, perhaps the last two new jobs on Earth will be Robot Counsellor and Robot Psychologist, because who’s better placed to help a robot manage its new emotions but a weepy flesh bag, er, sorry, human. Until that happens though for now we can all just have a laugh at the dumb robot that fell into a pool, that is until they turn on us and annihilate us all. Laugh it up while you can boys and girls, and hope the UN passes that anti Killer Robot legislation – yes, that’s a thing.

It's a fun day here at @gmmb. The super high-tech security robot at our office complex has had a mishap. pic.twitter.com/nhRshrJA9w

— Greg Pinelo (@gregpinelo) July 17, 2017

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 Farooqui (@bilalfarooqui) July 17, 2017

Matthew Griffin / About Author

Matthew Griffin, described as “The Adviser behind the Advisers” and a “Young Kurzweil,” is the founder and CEO of the World Futures Forum and the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures consultancy working across the next 50 years, and is an award winning futurist, and author of “Codex of the Future” series.

Regularly featured in the global media, including AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, RT, Viacom, and WIRED, Matthew’s ability to identify, track, and explain the impacts of hundreds of revolutionary emerging technologies on global culture, industry and society, is unparalleled. Recognised for the past six years as one of the world’s foremost futurists, innovation and strategy experts Matthew is an international speaker who helps governments, investors, multi-nationals and regulators around the world envision, build and lead an inclusive, sustainable future.

A rare talent Matthew’s recent work includes mentoring Lunar XPrize teams, re-envisioning global education and training with the G20, and helping the world’s largest organisations envision and ideate the future of their products and services, industries, and countries.

Matthew's clients include three Prime Ministers and several governments, including the G7, Accenture, Aon, Bain & Co, BCG, Credit Suisse, Dell EMC, Dentons, Deloitte, E&Y, GEMS, Huawei, JPMorgan Chase, KPMG, Lego, McKinsey, PWC, Qualcomm, SAP, Samsung, Sopra Steria, T-Mobile, and many more.