Was It Really A Robot That Killed A Man Last Week... Or Human Error?

Heiko Hillwig, a Volkswagen spokesman, while speaking to the Associated Press, told that the "initial conclusions indicate that human error was to blame, rather than a problem with the robot, which can be programmed to perform various tasks in the assembly process".

He said the industrial robot normally operates within a confined area at the plant, grabbing auto parts and manipulating them. Another contractor was present when the incident occurred, but was not harmed, Hillwig said. He, however, declined to give any more details about the case, citing an ongoing investigation.

1. This is basically just like any other industrial accident.

2. It was an industrial robot; a non-humanoid-looking, and non self-aware machine.

3. It's just like any other piece of equipment that executes a stored program.

4. In the excitement / paranoia, what everyone seems to ignore here is that while the robot reacted to its environment, it did in very specific and scripted ways as it was designed to grab and manipulate auto parts.

5. More so, it had NO idea it was grabbing a human being (and not another machine) when it killed the worker.

6. Basically, a non self-aware piece of machinery accidentally ends up harming a human life while doing something it was programmed to do by humans and NOT because it made a choice to do so own its on!

The robot in question here simply performed the said action (grab and manipulate) its human-handlers had installed it with. Now, if a machine acts in certain manner (as its designed to) and ends up hurting a human (because it cannot differentiate between a human and a piece of machine), is it really the machine's fault? Of course, not!

So, to say that robot killed a man, when, according to the preliminary assessment, the worker was at fault, is simply a poor and highly questionable attempt by media houses at fear-mongering among the general public.