When we approach the idea of a killer robot, we almost always do it from the perspective of cinema and science fiction, thinking of something more related to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Terminator than the reality behind a problem that has been growing since the first robot-related death in 1979.
In January of that same year, a 25-year-old young man named Robert Williams saw that one of the machines under his charge had some problem. The system, responsible for moving pieces from one end of the Ford factory where he worked to the other, was working unusually slow. As he climbed up to inspect it, disaster struck.
41 deaths by robots in 25 years
According to legal documents that were later leaked to the press after the trial, another mechanical arm “struck and crushed from behind” the worker, ending his life instantly. The system had mistaken him for another factory object, so the robot continued its tasks and remained operational for another 30 minutes until other colleagues found Williams’ body.
The litigation process against Litton Industries, the company that had created those robotic arms, lasted for four years until the trial ruled in favor of the family and ordered a payment of $10 million as compensation. $15 million if we also include the legal expenses.
The incident, which inevitably brought back the debate on the replaceability of workers that had already been experienced during the Industrial Revolution, has not stopped reoccurring since then, despite the growing focus on safety behind these systems. According to recent studies, and although it is difficult to determine an exact number because many cases have not been disclosed, between 1992 and 2017 there were 41 deaths by robots in the United States alone.
However, these are not the only indirect deaths to take into account, and according to a study from Yale University, the between 420,000 and 750,000 jobs lost due to robots and automation in the last decade of the 20th century resulted in approximately 8 suicides per 100,000 men aged 45 to 54, and around 4 per 100,000 women in the same age range.
Facing the revolution of artificial intelligence, and its close relationship with robots beyond science fiction, feelings regarding reliving that Industrial Revolution capable of trampling any hint of morality or ethics in the workplace, once again call into question to what extent the humans behind those changes, and not the robots, are the sole responsible for the issue.
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