Trust me, I'm a robot

This article discusses safety concerns surrounding robots, which are increasingly entering our homes and workplaces. The tragic 1981 accident, in which a Japanese engineer was killed by a robot, highlights the need for effective regulations regarding human-machine interactions. As robots become more advanced, experts from various fields, including robot ethicists, are calling for the establishment of safety standards to prevent potential hazards. With the growing number of robots, questions regarding their liability and ethics are becoming increasingly relevant.

Robot

In 1981, Kenji Urada, a thirty-seven-year-old Japanese factory worker, was climbing over a security fence at a plantation in Kawasaki to perform repairs on a robot. In his haste, he failed to properly shut it down. The robot's powerful hydraulic arm, unable to sense itself, began to work and accidentally pushed the engineer into the grinder. His death made Urada the first recorded victim at the hands of a robot.

This horrific industrial accident would not have occurred in a world where robot behavior was governed by science fiction writer Isaac Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics. These laws were published in the 1950 novel "I, Robot," on which the latest Hollywood film is based. However, decades later, the laws designed to prevent robots from harming humans and regulating action and inaction remain in the realm of fiction.

In fact, despite the introduction of improved safety mechanisms, robots have caused far more casualties since 1981. Over the years, people have been crushed, hit in the head, welded, and even had molten aluminum poured on them by robots. Last year, according to the UK Health and Safety Executive, there were 77 recorded accidents involving robots.

Now that robots have emerged from industrial cages and migrated into homes and workplaces, workers are concerned about their safety outside the factory floor. To alleviate their concerns, automation specialists must work collaboratively to prevent robots from harming humans. Inspired by the Pugwash Conferences—an international group of scientists, academics, and activists founded in 1957 to advocate for nuclear nonproliferation—a new group of robo-ethicists met earlier this year in Genoa, Italy, and announced their initial findings in March at the European Robotics Symposium in Palermo, Sicily.