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Weird Phenomenon: Killed by a Robot

June 14, 2011

Featured Content, Popular Culture, Weird Phenomena

On July 4, 1981, one of the first persons killed by a robot was reported. Japanese 37 year-old Kenji Uruda worked in a Kawasaki Heavy Industries factory as a maintenance engineer. He was working on a broken robot. He had forgotten to turn off the robot completely, which resulted in his death: the hydraulic arm of the robot pushed him slowly into a grinding machine. His death was not made public until December 8 that year, after the investigation by the labor standards bureau was completed.

Uruda was not the first person to be killed by a robot. Two years earlier, a man named Robert Williams was killed after he was struck by a robotic arm in a casting plant in Michigan.

Were these the first signs that robots are innately evil?

Look at this video and see how far we have progressed toward total annihilation by our Cylon creations.

She looks a little clumsy still, but this was 2010. The One True God only knows where we stand now… Imagine that shaky, cold, evil looking thing approach you while you’re asleep. *shivers* I think she looks rather creepy.

Is a war with our own creations what our future has in store for us? Watch the following trailer.

Haunting thoughts, no?

I hope with this story and these videos I have inspired you to write another flash fiction story. Write a 1000 words on death caused by a robot (and that can be about our race’s destruction or a single death like, feel free to be very creative).

I love to read your stories so don’t forget to share it here!

Please share your thoughts about this phenomenon. I think this is an issue very much of today and our near future. Have you ever thought about the possibilities? The chance that we will actually be destroyed by robots I think is relatively small, but still… The idea gives me goosebumps.

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About Manon Eileen

Dutch 23-year-old SF/F YA writer, BSc in Psychology and soon MA in Global Criminology. She is creative, easily bored, and craves tea all the time. Also: "science isn't about why, it's about why not" - Cave Johnson.

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  • Piper Bayard

    I have actually thought about the possibilities. It’s pretty creepy to me, too. I was convinced the Xerox machine I used in the office 25 years ago was evil, and it wasn’t even a “robot.” Thanks for a great post, Manon.

    • http://www.manoneileen.com Manon Eileen

      Thanks for stopping by, Piper :)

  • Pingback: I Am Happy to Serve- a Flash Fiction Tale « CMStewartWrite

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  • http://twitter.com/CMStewartWrite CMStewart

    Whee! This was fun. :)

    And it’s PG, just so you know. :)

    http://cmstewartwrite.wordpress.com/2011/06/15/i-am-happy-to-serve-you-a-flash-fiction-tale/

    And yes, I think it’s entirely possible that humans will get wiped out by robots. We are in a race to build something we don’t understand- sentient artificial intelligence.

    • http://www.manoneileen.com Manon Eileen

      Thanks for sharing your story!! :D It was fun to read :)  

  • Yoshi

    Hmmm…there’s no way those 2 guys were killed by ‘evil robots’. Even to do something evil, one needs to think on their own, and Robots of that era were too primitive to do what even if there was an anomaly in their programming IMO.

    I think it’s the Japanese who’ve made the most progress in the field of Robotics than anybody else. I could be wrong, but the Japanese do grab the headlines more than the other with their constant innovations in robotics…like in the video above.

    I do agree that they look creepy as hell. They walk like the zombies in the movies. lol. Plus the face of the robot in the video looks like that of the female ghost in the movie Grudge. *shivers*

    There is one thing nobody can deny though: Humans have the power to create something very beautiful or useful for mankind, and they can take those same inventions and turn them into something totally ghastly and destructive in nature. Friggin’ Humans….such a duality!

    Tc

    Yoshi (The Closet Misanthrope)

    • http://www.manoneileen.com Manon Eileen

      Thanks for your thoughtful reply, Yoshi :D

      The development is quite interesting, right? I agree that she looks like a zombie/Grudge ghost, lol. 

      Have you watched Battlestar Galacatica by any chance?

      And yes it will all depend on what out power hungry states will decide to do. Either have the destroy or have them be peaceful. It’ll be interesting to watch.

      Thanks for stopping by!

      • Yoshi

        The development is indeed interesting…though I don’t see Robots to function as smooth as humans in my lifetime. I think it will take more time than that.

        No, I haven’t seen ‘Battlestar Galactica’, but I’ll check the trailer. Looks like an old movie.

        • http://www.manoneileen.com Manon Eileen

          I think we will see those robots in our lifetime, actually. Just like augmented reality and things like that. Pretty awesome all that.

          Battlestar Galactica is a tv show, which ran from 2004-2009 or so. :) The “miniseries” is like a prologue to the show and I think you’d like it!