The latest achievements in robotics and a course to increase automation in developed countries have posed a unique problem for people - robots that kill people. And it's not about Skynet, but the fact that robotic mechanisms just mindlessly perform what they are programmed for. And if people had the recklessness to interfere with the task being performed, the robot would treat the “crown of creation” in the same way as any material with which it works. This is why most of the incidents and deaths associated with robots occur in factories where robots work side by side with people.
Introducing you top 10 cases when robots killed people.
10. Joshua Brown
The title "first deadly victim of an unmanned vehicle" will forever remain with Mr. Brown. He died on May 7, 2016, after the Tesla S electric sedan was unable to distinguish an 18-wheeled tractor from a free highway. Tessie, as Brown affectionately called his electric car, drove under one part of the tractor and drove off the other side, but with the roof torn off. Then she left the road and crashed into two fences, and then into a pole. The bitter irony is that the same Joshua Brown uploaded several videos on YouTube, which, inter alia, show how the autopilot function in Tesla prevented the accident.
Tesla tried to disown its guilt in the accident. In the report, she noted that this is the first fatal accident involving Model S at 209 million km, while in the automotive industry this figure reaches 150 million km. The report also indicated that autopilots of electric vehicles are not perfect and drivers should not take their hands off the steering wheel. Brown's hand was not on the steering wheel for only 25 seconds out of 37 minutes of the trip, but that was enough for the accident.
The National Transportation Safety Council found that neither the motorist nor the electronic brains of Tesla S pressed the brakes. A truck driver said that Brown watched a Harry Potter movie during the accident. Indeed, a micro SD card was found at the scene containing a film about the “boy who survived,” but it is not known if Brown watched it on a laptop found in the car.
9. Robert Williams
This is the first person ever killed by a robot. He worked at a Ford plant in Michigan, and was killed by a robotic arm on January 25, 1979. She hit him at the moment when the worker climbed onto the shelf to take a new part. Ironically, it was assumed that this is a robot, and not a person, had to transfer parts from place to place. However, the device gave incorrect data on the number of parts left on the shelf, forcing Williams to go and check everything himself.
An internal audit found that the death of the man was caused by weak security measures. The Williams family was paid compensation in the amount of $ 10 million.
8. Nine soldiers from South Africa
In 2007, the Oerlikon GDF-005 anti-aircraft gun, which began to shoot spontaneously, killed nine and wounded 14 South African soldiers. The gun was controlled by a digital system that is able to find, aim and destroy enemies without human intervention. South African troops trained with the Oerlikon GDF-005 at the Combat Army Training Center in the North Cape, when the weapon jammed and something exploded inside it. And then it started firing in all directions. In total, the Oerlikon GDF-005 fired 250 rounds with high-explosive 35 mm shells.
There are suggestions that the accident may be due to either a software problem or a mechanical failure. Richard Young, an engineer and chief executive officer of the defense company Oerlikon Contraves AG, said that this is not the case with spontaneous shooting. Just before no one was killed.
7. Mika Johnson
In 2016, this black African shot five policemen in Dallas and injured nine more people, as well as two civilians. Shooting began quite unexpectedly, during a protest against the execution of blacks in the United States. After the shootout, Johnson took refuge in the college of El Centro. A five-hour confrontation followed, during which the police tried to negotiate, but Johnson threatened to blow up several bombs in response. Law enforcement officers offered him two options: either he goes out and surrenders, or force will be used against him. The criminal refused to leave. Perhaps if he knew what “power” means in the understanding of the police, he would rather surrender.
Guardians of the law attached a briquette of C-4 explosives to the robot and sent it to Johnson. The explosion killed Johnson and damaged the robot. This was the first time a robot killed a person in the history of American police units. Moreover, the robot was created in order to defuse bombs, and not to be their carrier.
It is known that US troops in Iraq attach bombs to robots and use them against rebels.
6. Kenji Urada
This engineer won the dubious fame of becoming the first Japanese killed by a robot. A tragic incident occurred in 1981, at Kawazaki Heavy Industries. Urada tried to fix the robot, and even turned it off beforehand. However, in the process of manipulating the robot, the engineer accidentally hooked the toggle switch. As a result, a mechanical arm pushed the poor fellow into the crusher, where he died.
5. Nameless victim
The tragedy occurred at the Volkswagen plant in the German city of Baunatal in 2015. The victim’s name is unknown, they only know that this young man was part of the team that created the robot. The creature was ungrateful, it grabbed its creator and imprinted on metal plates. At the hospital, a 21-year-old man died from injuries.
The robot was created to work on the engine production line. He was usually kept in a protective cage, where the person worked during the accident. Volkswagen said in a statement that the incident was caused by human errors. After all, another engineer who was in a cage with a robot at the time of the incident remained safe and sound.
4. Wanda Holbrook
In March 2015, a 57-year-old American was killed by a robot at the Ventra Ionia Mains factory. A woman named Wanda Holbrook was committed to tracking whether robots were working properly and fixing all the failures that were occurring.
The Ventra Ionia Mains factory, which manufactures automotive parts, was divided into sections, and robots from one section, theoretically, could not reach another. However, one robot still succeeded. The robotic arm reached the section where Wanda worked, and then hit and crushed the victim’s head between the hitch assemblies.
The robot tried to place the victim’s head in a special clip in which the part was already. This is a gross violation of the rules of operation, since the clamp cannot contain more than one part of the car.
The Holbrook family indicted five companies that participated in the creation of the robot.
3. Ana Maria Vital
In 2009, this forty-year-old woman was killed by a robot that stacked boxes on pallets. One of the boxes got stuck, and Mary had to go into the section with the robot to get it. However, she did not turn off the mechanism, once again confirming the rule "all safety instructions are written in blood."
The robot grabbed Ana Maria, as if she were one of the boxes and crushed her torso. Other mechanics tried to free the woman, but the robot did not let her go, and Ana Maria died.
2. Ramji Lal
In 2015, a 24-year-old Indian was killed at the SKH Metals factory when he approached the robot from behind. The mechanism was engaged in moving metal sheets welded together. And Ramji tried to correct one of the sheets, since it was improperly located. However, the person was not quick enough, and the robot pierced his stomach with a sharp metal edge. Death did not come immediately, the unfortunate tormented for about half an hour, and died already in the hospital. At autopsy, it was found that his insides became a mess, and death came from extensive internal blood loss. However, a police report said that Ramji died of electric shock.
Other SKH Metals employees claim that the fact of the murder of a person by a robot occurred through the fault of the person himself. There was no need to approach the robot from behind. However, the fact that this happened is a matter of concern.
1. Regina Elsa
The first place in the ranking of deadly robotic attacks on humans went to a very sad story about a girl who did not live two weeks before her own wedding.
The incident occurred in 2016, at the American plant Ajin USA, which produces parts for one of the largest automakers in the world - Hyundai and Kia.
On a fateful day, Regina and other workers tried to restore a failed robot. This was not part of their responsibilities, however, the maintenance department employees, who were supposed to fix the robot, did not pick up the phone. During the repair work, the robotic mechanism suddenly “came to life” and pushed Elsa into another car, severely injuring the girl. She was provided with medical care, but, despite the efforts of doctors, Regina died.
Investigation of the incident showed that the plant was grossly violated safety measures, because its owners wanted to maximize profits. In addition, Ajin USA employees had to work seven days a week from time to time, and management forced them to repair faulty machines.
When a robot kills a person, who can be held accountable? Is this considered reckless killing? Should the robot be taken into custody and its owners awarded compensation to the relatives of the murdered? Answers to these questions of jurisprudence have yet to be found. Only one thing does not raise questions: deaths involving robots will continue to occur. And far from always the fault of man.
