By Zainab Shafiq 
A city council in Gumi, South Korea, reported that their first administrative officer robot is defunct after falling down a staircase. Local media described it as the first case of robot suicide ever in the country. This was after the robot was found lying motionless at the bottom of a two-meter staircase. Witnesses said that before the fall, the robot began “circling in one spot,” but it is still under investigation. The manufacturing company has collected pieces of the robot to conduct analysis.
The robot had been programmed to do daily document deliveries, promote the city, and give information to the residents; thus, it was a diligent member of the city hall team, says an official statement. Manufactured by Californian startup Bear Robotics, known for its robot waiters, it was appointed in August 2023 and worked from 9 am to 6 pm with its own civil service officer card, where it could call elevators and move between floors by itself.
Some local media headlines have speculated that the robot killed itself because of unbearable work pressure. South Korea has one of the largest robot usages in the world, with a top rank in robot density globally, having an industrial robot for every 10 employees.
While many considered that a robot would take the city’s administrative workforce to a new bright step ahead, another robot officer is not on the plans of the Gumi City Council at the moment. The event has further sparked debates on the role and treatment of robots in administrative positions, as the council and members of the community reflect on what the demise of the robot means.
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