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defrogITEM: A cute happy robot that has hitchhiked across Canada and parts of Europe, posting its progress on social media sites along the way, tried the same thing in the US.
He got as far as Philadelphia before someone killed it and stole its head.
HitchBOT was an experiment from a couple of Canadian researchers. Details from Ars Technica:
The goal: "to see whether robots could trust humans."
Not American humans they can’t.
On the other hand, we’re not all bad. Some people in Philly have offered to try and repair or rebuild HitchBOT so it can complete its journey to San Francisco. And HitchBOT did survive for two weeks before getting whacked.
Meanwhile, no word yet as to who might have ripped up HitchBOT, or why, although the internet being what it is, it probably won't take long to find out. Supposedly we already have alleged footage of the attack, which indicates it was simple vandalism, as opposed to, say, someone worried that HitchBOT was an Obama NSA/FEMA drone, or a North Korea/Iran/ISIS recon scout, or a Mexican rapebot (all of which are actually possible, and none of which speak well of the current state of the national character).
Hopefully that won’t result in a Internet Revengepalooza lynch mob thing like we saw with the dentist from Minnesota over Cecil the lion. For one thing, lynch mobs aren’t cool, digital or otherwise. Also, the creators of HitchBOT have said they aren’t interested in pressing charges on whoever did it no matter what the reason may have been.
Robot down,
This is dF
He got as far as Philadelphia before someone killed it and stole its head.
HitchBOT was an experiment from a couple of Canadian researchers. Details from Ars Technica:
… the bot couldn't move on its own but it did interact with humans utilizing Cleverscript speech technology (yes, the same stuff that has attempted to top the Turing Test. Hence why HitchBOT listed "trivia" as a hobby in its about me). The robot was three feet tall and weighed about 25 pounds (so it took some effort to pick up), and it came equipped with its interaction tech (camera vision, a microphone, and a speaker system), 3G and GPS capabilities, and an external battery meter (so it could juice up in cigarette lighters or outlets).
The goal: "to see whether robots could trust humans."
Not American humans they can’t.
On the other hand, we’re not all bad. Some people in Philly have offered to try and repair or rebuild HitchBOT so it can complete its journey to San Francisco. And HitchBOT did survive for two weeks before getting whacked.
Meanwhile, no word yet as to who might have ripped up HitchBOT, or why, although the internet being what it is, it probably won't take long to find out. Supposedly we already have alleged footage of the attack, which indicates it was simple vandalism, as opposed to, say, someone worried that HitchBOT was an Obama NSA/FEMA drone, or a North Korea/Iran/ISIS recon scout, or a Mexican rapebot (all of which are actually possible, and none of which speak well of the current state of the national character).
Hopefully that won’t result in a Internet Revengepalooza lynch mob thing like we saw with the dentist from Minnesota over Cecil the lion. For one thing, lynch mobs aren’t cool, digital or otherwise. Also, the creators of HitchBOT have said they aren’t interested in pressing charges on whoever did it no matter what the reason may have been.
Robot down,
This is dF
