"After sharing a story on Twitter about a robot who killed a man in Germany, Ryan Calo, professor of robotics and cyberlaw at the University of Washington School of Law, replied that it is not that unusual for robots to kill people. Naturally, I had a few questions. Here they are with Calo's answers, including why robots aren't going anywhere anytime soon.
Margarita Noriega:What just happened in Germany?
Ryan Calo:A man was killed while setting up an industrial robot at a Volkswagen plant. Apparently the robot grabbed the man and crushed him against a metal plate.
Margarita Noriega:You mentioned that this was more commonplace than people might think. Can you explain?
Ryan Calo:About a person a year dies in robot related accidents in the U.S. alone. You can see this in the statistics complied by OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Recent incidents include "Maintenance Worker Is Struck And Killed By A Robot"(2013) and "Robot Crushes And Kills Worker Inside Robot Work Cell" (2012). The reason people are reporting on this death, I think, is that robots are very much on the mind. Of course, we should keep this all in perspective—more people are killed by bees or sharks than robots, at least in the United States."
Read the full interview at Vox.
- Date Published:07/02/2015
- Original Publication:Vox