Death by robot: the new mechanised danger in our changing world

Uber self-driving cars

Was killed last Sunday by an Uber autonomous car that hit the 49-year-old at approximately 40mph as she was crossing the road in Tempe, Arizona. Police confirmed there was an operator in the Volvo SUV at the time of the collision, and stated that it didn’t appear the car had slowed down.
 ited as the first human killed by a robot, Williams was an assembly worker at Ford’s Flat Rock plant in Michigan. He was crushed to death by the arm of a one-tonne robot on the production line on 25 January 1979. His family was awarded $10m in damages. The court concluded that he was struck on the head due to inadequate safety measures.

 While robot-assisted surgery has allowed surgeons to perform operations remotely with minimal invasiveness, a 2016 US study found that it was linked to the deaths of 144 people between 2008 and 2013. Causes of death included parts falling into patients’ bodies, machines turning off/on at the wrong time and loss of video feeds. “Despite widespread adoption of robotic systems… a non-negligible number of technical difficulties and complications are still being experienced during procedures,” the study said.

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