A strange case has attracted attention in South Korea, one of the most technologically developed countries in the world. A robot has reportedly “committed suicide” after a year of work in the town of Gumi, in Gyeongsang Province.
In August last year, it was recognised as the first robotic civil servant and was named a “supervisory robot”. However, a strange incident has cast doubt on its functionality.
This is a robot developed by Bear Robotics. According to Deutsche Welle, it was found unresponsive at the end of June after apparently falling down a two-meter staircase.
Witnesses said the robot was seen circling in one spot before launching itself. The pieces have been collected for the investigation. Until then, it was delivering documents and promoting the robot around the city.
The South Korean press questioned the robot’s performance and whether it was too much work for a machine. According to the website Xataka, the case was described on social media as “the first suicide of a robot in the country” or “this is how terrifying the excess of work is”.
As far as we know, the robot was designed as a waiter-robot, used artificial intelligence and worked from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., across four floors. It even had its own civil servant ID.
The investigation was opened due to the possible damage that the robot could have caused. There were no people on the stairs. On the other hand, the municipality paid a monthly fee for its services.