Did a robot commit suicide in South Korea, or was it a machine malfunction?

The sensational news this week of a robot committing “suicide” in South Korea must have appeared as a joke to a normal person. After all, a robot is a machine, with some programming that enables it to do certain tasks that a machine usually doesn’t. When a machine stops working, we say it’s a machine breakdown. We don’t call it “suicide”.

The facts

A robot, developed by Bear Robotics, a California-based startup that produces robot-waiters, was “employed” by the Gumi City Council in South Korea since August 2023. It was a part of the city hall staff, and its daily tasks were to deliver documents and city promotion (whatever that means). It used to work from 9 am to 6 pm.

It was different from the other robots already being used by the city council. This robot was the first-of-its-kind because it could move between floors using the elevator, unlike others that were limited to a single floor.

On June 27, the robot was found lying in a damaged state in the stairwell between the first and second floors of the council building. Before the robot fell down the stairs, eyewitnesses reported “unusual behaviour” – the robot was circling in one spot.

The reporting

Experts believe it was a technical malfunction or glitch, caused by sensor failure or a programming bug. .

However, the news of the robot malfunctioning and falling down the stairs was sensationalised by news reports that it had committed “suicide” due to “work stress”. The local media reportedly ran headlines asking, ”Why did the diligent civil officer do it?”

The Gumi City Council said they would investigate the cause of the supposedly “depressed” robot’s “death”.

“Pieces have been collected and will be analysed by the company,” an official was quoted by a news agency.

After this incident, the city council is said to have temporarily put on hold its plans to introduce a second robot officer.

The analysis

South Korea has been a pioneer in adopting automation technology, and boasts the highest robot density in the world. It has a ratio of one industrial robot for every 10 employees, according to reports.

Over the years, South Korea has made tremendous technological advancements with a thriving startup culture and a growing economy. The flip side of it is that South Koreans are more overworked than ever. According to a report from OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) in 2022, South Koreans work an average of 149 hours longer per year than the OECD average.

Employees face immense pressure at work to meet targets, leading to high stress and burnout. South Korea has the highest suicide rate among OECD nations.

Was this the reason why people jumped to the conclusion that the robot had decided to take its own life? Or was it some writer who called it a suicide just as a joke?