A city council in South Korea 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.
South Korea’s Gumi City Council announced the robot was found unresponsive after having fallen down a two-meter (six-and-a-half foot) staircase last week.
According to a city council official, the exact cause of the fall is still being investigated even though, witnesses saw the robot officer “circling in one spot as if something was there” before the accident occurred.
“Pieces have been collected and will be analyzed by the company,” the official said, adding that the robot had “helped with daily document deliveries, city promotion, and delivered information” to residents.
“It was officially a part of the city hall, one of us,” another official said. “It worked diligently.”
The local Headline media are brimming with questions about the robot’s apparent suicide, asking: “Why did the diligent civil officer do it?” or asking “Was work too hard” for the robot?
Appointed in August 2023, the robot was one of the first of its kind to be used in this manner in the city.
This robot, made by Bear Robotics, a Californian robot-waiter startup, worked from 9 am to 6 pm and had its civil service officer card.
Unlike other robots, which typically only use one floor, the Gumi City Council robot could call an elevator and move floors independently.
South Korea is one of the most enthusiastic users of robots globally.
According to the International Federation of Robotics, it has the highest robot density in the world, with one industrial robot for every 10 employees.
Gumi City Council is currently not planning to adopt a second robot officer at this moment, it told AFP.
