Burned out on the job: In South Korea, a robot "commits suicide" for the first time

Gumi City Council, South Korea, announced that their first robot administrative officer had stopped working after falling down a flight of stairs, and local media expressed condolences over the country's first "robot suicide".

Here's What We Know

The robot, seen outside the Gumi City Council building, allegedly fell down a two-metre staircase last week. Witnesses saw the robot "circling in one place" before the incident occurred, but the exact cause of the fall is still under investigation, a city council official told AFP.

The official said that the fragments were collected and analysed by a company, adding that the robot helped with daily document delivery, advertising the city and providing information to local residents.

Another official said that the robot was officially part of the city hall and worked diligently.

Local media have raised questions about the robot's possible suicide, suggesting that the workload may have been too much for it to handle. The robot, created by the California-based startup Bear Robotics, worked from 9am to 6pm and had its own civil servant card. He was appointed to the position in August 2023. Unlike other robots, the Gumi City Council robot could call a lift and move around the floors on its own.

South Korea is one of the largest users of robots in the world, with one industrial robot for every 10 workers.

Gumi City Council has no plans to adopt a second robot officer at this time.

Source: CNA