Future versions of the robot should avoid areas with higher crime rates
I think future versions of the robot should have self-defense measures appropriate for the United States.
That would make me much less likely to give it a ride...
Hitchhiking robot that relied on human kindness found decapitated (2015)
31–40 of 44 posts
Re: Hitchhiking robot that relied on human kindness found decapitated (2015)
#32Please find in this Deadspin artical a rebuttal to the "tragedy" of Hitchbot: https://theconcourse.deadspin.com/hitchbot-was-a-literal-pil... While I don't agree with all of the points made here, I do agree with some of them very strongly .
I'm unable to find a single item in this post that I could agree with or even relate to. What a terrible attitude towards a fun experiment.
Re: Hitchhiking robot that relied on human kindness found decapitated (2015)
#33It'd be interesting to know how many human interactions or trips the robot had in each country. Because even with a 0.1% fatal incident rate, with enough interactions you could expect a decapitation.
And that's why I don't hitchhike.
Re: Hitchhiking robot that relied on human kindness found decapitated (2015)
#34It's a robot; what does "human kindness" have to do with this?
Wrong. it’s counter intuitive... similar to animal rights... why do animal needs any right? shouldn’t it be survival of fittest? answer is NO... and that makes us human... our ability to express emotions and “human kindness”... though it’s a choice not to show any kindness to this metal box... trashing/damaging is certainly not the right attitude...
Re: Hitchhiking robot that relied on human kindness found decapitated (2015)
#35Could be the police did this? Trying to search for dangerous substance or devices. I'd wary about having an unidentified object lying on the roadside asking to be picked up... who knows what it could be? Could be drug transporter or bioweapon or IED...
There would likely be a police incident report, especially if there were multiple officers were involved which would almost certainly be the case for a situation in which drugs or terrorism was suspected.
Re: Hitchhiking robot that relied on human kindness found decapitated (2015)
#36Please find in this Deadspin artical a rebuttal to the "tragedy" of Hitchbot: https://theconcourse.deadspin.com/hitchbot-was-a-literal-pil... While I don't agree with all of the points made here, I do agree with some of them very strongly .
I'm unable to find a single item in this post that I could agree with or even relate to. What a terrible attitude towards a fun experiment.
I agree that it was a terrible response. I expected from Deadspin/Gawker a contrarian take about how Hitchbot was asking to be destroyed because people have become justifiably suspicious of camera-equipped robots.
Re: Hitchhiking robot that relied on human kindness found decapitated (2015)
#37Vandalism is an ugly crime, but I'm viewing this incident as someone who (now) knows what Hitchbot was and what its creators' intentions apparently were. We don't know that this was the case for whoever destroyed Hitchbot. Maybe society was substantially more innocent/optimistic about technology in 2015, but today I'm not surprised when some people become hostile at the thought of robots roaming around taking photos…
Really? You think society has devolved in the last three years? A backlash against robots? Maybe you watched Interstellar too many times.
A more likely scenario is a bunch of teenagers saw it (it does look kind of dumb after all) and kicked the crap out of it, all the while laughing.
This isn't a reflection on our society, robots, or anything else. It was most likely a few people having fun.
What I do see as a reflection of our changing society is everyone's hypersensitivity to nearly everything. Let's all go back to our unoffensive, algo-curated safezones.
Re: Hitchhiking robot that relied on human kindness found decapitated (2015)
#38Could be the police did this? Trying to search for dangerous substance or devices. I'd wary about having an unidentified object lying on the roadside asking to be picked up... who knows what it could be? Could be drug transporter or bioweapon or IED...
I'm new to HN and the FAQ didn't say anything either, why is your name green?
Re: Hitchhiking robot that relied on human kindness found decapitated (2015)
#39Vandalism is an ugly crime, but I'm viewing this incident as someone who (now) knows what Hitchbot was and what its creators' intentions apparently were. We don't know that this was the case for whoever destroyed Hitchbot. Maybe society was substantially more innocent/optimistic about technology in 2015, but today I'm not surprised when some people become hostile at the thought of robots roaming around taking photos…
Really? You think society has devolved in the last three years? A backlash against robots? Maybe you watched Interstellar too many times. A more likely scenario is a bunch of teenagers saw it (it does look kind of dumb after all) and kicked the crap out of it, all the while laughing. This isn't a reflection on our society, robots, or anything else. It was most likely a few people having fun. What I do see as a reflec…
> What I do see as a reflection of our changing society is everyone's hypersensitivity to nearly everything
I agree that society, including the Internet, has become too hypersensitive. To the point where a comment in (January) 2018 feigning ignorance of how things were in 2015 is taken at face value instead of rhetorically :).
edit: I think you are right though, that it probably was pranksters/drunken idiots. Someone who dropped it off claimed to have early-morning surveillance footage of it being attacked in a touristy part of town.
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20150804_Can_hitchBOT_be_s...
> The video was posted by Jesse Wellens, the Philadelphian who said he found the robot while driving around early Saturday. He said he held on to the robot for a couple of hours, then dropped it off on a bench on Second Street at Elfreth's Alley between 4:30 and 5 a.m. The footage shows a man kicking hitchBOT on the bench around 5:45 a.m., according to a date tag on the video. The assailant is wearing a No. 12 Eagles jersey, the number worn by Randall Cunningham.
My 2018 mindset pictured a "bot" as something that had some kind of autonomous movement/behavior but it was for all intents and purposes a box with a camera. I think Hitchbot's survival chances were extremely low if left unattended late at night near a bar scene, Philadelphia or elsewhere.
Re: Hitchhiking robot that relied on human kindness found decapitated (2015)
#40Could be the police did this? Trying to search for dangerous substance or devices. I'd wary about having an unidentified object lying on the roadside asking to be picked up... who knows what it could be? Could be drug transporter or bioweapon or IED...
I'm new to HN and the FAQ didn't say anything either, why is your name green?
It indicates that the account was just made. In the case of the GP the account was made about an hour ago.