The rise of artificial intelligence poses its fair share of dangers. Last year, for instance, physicist Stephen Hawking said its development could be "either ever to happen to humanity." And just this weekend, Tesla CEO Elon Musk described AI as a potential to human civilization.
But for now at least, we can chalk up one win against our future overlords.
On Monday, onlookers at an office complex in Washington, D.C., discovered a curious sight: the body of a security robot, floating face-down in a fountain. It was the remains of a , an autonomous bot able to "detect unusual activity and report it for humans to investigate," according to the company's website.
Kristian De Meo of MRP Realty, which manages , tells All Things Considered the bot was new to the facility. She says the robot 鈥� which they've nicknamed Steve, an acronym for Security Technology Enhancement Vehicle 鈥� "has spent a little over a week where Knightscope has been on-site programming it and also mapping out the property."
"Evidently, yesterday it faced its first challenge in the form of a small fountain," De Meo adds.
Knightscope tells NPR no one was hurt in the "isolated event," which the company is currently investigating. They say a replacement will be delivered to Washington Harbour at no extra cost.
As of this writing, no foul play is suspected.
In a tweet, Knightscope , quoting its bot saying, "I heard humans can take a dip in the water in this heat, but robots cannot." (Chalk another one up for humans!)
BREAKING NEWS: "I heard humans can take a dip in the water in this heat, but robots cannot. I am sorry," said K5 in an official statement.
— Knightscope (@iKnightscope)
But this is not the first run-in these rolling mall cops have had with humanity:
"Last year, was run over by one of the autonomous devices in a Silicon Valley shopping centre.
"And earlier this year, after attacking a Knightscope robot.
"The man, who was drunk at the time of the incident, later said he wanted to 'test' the machine, according to Knightscope."
At any rate, the bystanders who watched the robot's rescue in person and on social media Monday demonstrated one quality that still sets us apart from the things we have created: the capacity to gloat.
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Arya Stark: When people ask you what happened here, tell them the North remembers. Tell them winter came for your security robot.
— Ryan Mac 馃檭 (@RMac18)
