Security robot ends up in Washington, D.C., fountain
A security robot wound up in a fountain in Washington, D.C., on Monday in what some on Twitter were describing as a "suicide."
The Knightscape K5 robot, which was supposed to be on the lookout for any criminal activity at Georgetown Harbor, apparently broke Asimov's Third Law of Robotics by delving into the fountain Monday afternoon.
Our D.C. office building got a security robot. It drowned itself.
— Bilal Farooqui (@bilalfarooqui) July 17, 2017
We were promised flying cars, instead we got suicidal robots. pic.twitter.com/rGLTAWZMjn
Thanks to @ComfortablySmug for the close-up. I call this "Dramatic Robot" pic.twitter.com/E7XpBJfoTd
— Smoking_Cyberman (@UKISOCIETY) July 17, 2017
Earlier this year, a hardware engineer allegedly knocked down a K5 in Mountain View, California. In that case, the robot reported its own assault, leading to the assailant's arrest.
The 300-pound machines are designed to roam areas and provide law enforcement and security personnel with information on anything out of the ordinary. There is no word yet on whether this particular robot had the presence of mind to call for help, or if it even wanted to, instead preferring a watery death to a life of thankless servitude.
In other news, Tesla CEO Elon Musk told a conference of U.S. governors this past weekend that artificial intelligence represents an "existential threat" to the human species.