SEOUL: South Korea’s Gumi City Council said Wednesday their first administrative officer robot was defunct after throwing itself down some stairs, with local media mourning the country’s first robot suicide.
The incident, described by local media as the country’s first robot suicide, occurred when the robot, developed by Californian startup Bear Robotics, was found unresponsive at the bottom of a two-meter staircase last week, according to a statement from the city council.
Witnesses observed the robot behaving unusually before the incident, circling in place as if reacting to something unseen. However, the exact cause of the fall is still under investigation, a city council official confirmed to AFP.
“The pieces of the robot have been collected and will be analyzed by the company,” the official added. The robot, which had been operational since its appointment in August 2023, played a significant role in daily operations, including document deliveries, city promotion, and providing information to local residents.
“It was officially a part of the city hall, one of us,” remarked another city official. “It worked diligently.”
The unexpected incident has sparked questions and reflections in local media, with headlines pondering the reasons behind the robot’s actions. Some asked whether the pressures of its duties had become too overwhelming.
Unlike conventional robots limited to a single floor, Gumi City Council’s robot possessed advanced capabilities, including the ability to call an elevator and navigate between floors independently.
South Korea, known for its robust adoption of robotic technology, boasts one of the highest robot densities globally, with approximately one industrial robot for every ten employees, as reported by the International Federation of Robotics.
Gumi city council is currently not planning to adopt a second robot officer at this moment, it told AFP.
