
Hitchhiking robot that relied on human kindness found decapitated (2015) - pmoriarty
https://www.wired.co.uk/article/hitchbot-usa-vandalised-philadelphia
======
dmichulke
> "I hope that my hitchhiking trip will allow me to [...] learn more about
> humanity," hitchBOT explained on an FAQ

Well, he (it?) asked for it, didn't he?

/s

------
danso
Vandalism is an ugly crime, but I'm viewing this incident as someone who (now)
knows what Hitchbot was and what its creators' intentions apparently were. We
don't know that this was the case for whoever destroyed Hitchbot. Maybe
society was substantially more innocent/optimistic about technology in 2015,
but today I'm not surprised when some people become hostile at the thought of
robots roaming around taking photos and uploading them to an unknown source
for unknown reasons.

As to whether Hitchbot's fate was sealed because it ventured through a high
crime area (article doesn't say specifically where in Philadelphia) -- I
imagine such neighborhoods may also have highly suspicious attitudes towards
automatons with cameras.

edit: More context:

[http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20150806_Pranksters_admit_...](http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20150806_Pranksters_admit_hitchBOT_hoax_-
_which_raises_more_questions.html)

tl;dr Hitchbot was found dismembered in what sounds like a touristy, bar-
filled area of Philadelphia. Someone claimed to have footage of it being
dismembered, but it turned out it was just a prankster who faked the footage
to capitalize on the attention. So it's not even certain where or when
Hitchbot "died". But Hitchbot is not really a "bot" as we (or at least I)
think about them these days, e.g. the "suicidal" security bot in D.C. that
stumbled its way into a fountain [0]. Hitchbot was entirely dependent on
people picking it up and dropping it off. The chances of someone choosing to
drive late at night to an area of high violent crime seem low in general,
nevermind to drop off a robot there.

Ironically I think its chances of survival would be just as good in inner city
Philadelphia as it would be near any sports bar in America (or the world),
late at night.

[0] [http://nymag.com/selectall/2017/07/robot-security-guard-
comm...](http://nymag.com/selectall/2017/07/robot-security-guard-commits-
suicide-in-public-fountain.html)

~~~
jondiggsit
Really? You think society has devolved in the last three years? A backlash
against robots? Maybe you watched Interstellar too many times.

A more likely scenario is a bunch of teenagers saw it (it does look kind of
dumb after all) and kicked the crap out of it, all the while laughing.

This isn't a reflection on our society, robots, or anything else. It was most
likely a few people having fun.

What I do see as a reflection of our changing society is everyone's
hypersensitivity to nearly everything. Let's all go back to our unoffensive,
algo-curated safezones.

~~~
danso
> _What I do see as a reflection of our changing society is everyone 's
> hypersensitivity to nearly everything_

I agree that society, including the Internet, has become too hypersensitive.
To the point where a comment in (January) 2018 feigning ignorance of how
things were in 2015 is taken at face value instead of rhetorically :).

edit: I think you are right though, that it probably was pranksters/drunken
idiots. Someone who dropped it off claimed to have early-morning surveillance
footage of it being attacked in a touristy part of town.

[http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20150804_Can_hitchBOT_be_s...](http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20150804_Can_hitchBOT_be_saved__Philly_tech_sector_rallies_around_battered__bot.html)

> _The video was posted by Jesse Wellens, the Philadelphian who said he found
> the robot while driving around early Saturday. He said he held on to the
> robot for a couple of hours, then dropped it off on a bench on Second Street
> at Elfreth 's Alley between 4:30 and 5 a.m. The footage shows a man kicking
> hitchBOT on the bench around 5:45 a.m., according to a date tag on the
> video. The assailant is wearing a No. 12 Eagles jersey, the number worn by
> Randall Cunningham._

My 2018 mindset pictured a "bot" as something that had some kind of autonomous
movement/behavior but it was for all intents and purposes a box with a camera.
I think Hitchbot's survival chances were extremely low if left unattended late
at night near a bar scene, Philadelphia or elsewhere.

------
ryukafalz
HitchBOT was later resurrected as part of a Mad Max themed modded surrey:

[https://www.hive76.org/2016/11/27/mad-hax-and-the-
kensington...](https://www.hive76.org/2016/11/27/mad-hax-and-the-kensington-
kinetic-sculpture-derby/)

I'm a member of Hive76, though I joined a while after all this happened - not
sure how much of it was original and how much was replaced.

------
everdev
It'd be interesting to know how many human interactions or trips the robot had
in each country.

Because even with a 0.1% fatal incident rate, with enough interactions you
could expect a decapitation.

~~~
CobrastanJorji
And that's why I don't hitchhike.

------
blobbers
Robot aside, is this endemic of the feelings held outside the San Francisco
towards robots, technology, and the rich? The robot didn't really have much to
it except it wanted to go to San Francisco.

The disconnection of pollsters with the reality of the world later showed up
in the american elections a few years later.

Part of me thinks that this journey might have at least been a bit longer if
it had started on the west coast and moved east.

I'll go google the follow-up to this version of the robot...

~~~
danso
This was the latest article I found (Aug 6, 2015):
[http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20150806_Pranksters_admit_...](http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20150806_Pranksters_admit_hitchBOT_hoax_-
_which_raises_more_questions.html)

If Hitchbot's death was the result of late night drunkards or social media
pranksters, I don't think its chances in San Francisco or Los Angeles would be
any better. In fact, I think its chances would be much worse in areas filled
with Internet/social-media savvy people.

edit: maybe with the exception of Times Square, where it would be not only
under constant surveillance, but not even thought to be odd or interesting.
Unless whoever dropped it off failed to give advance notice to the NYPD of
course.

------
ConfusedDog
Could be the police did this? Trying to search for dangerous substance or
devices. I'd wary about having an unidentified object lying on the roadside
asking to be picked up... who knows what it could be? Could be drug
transporter or bioweapon or IED...

~~~
Avamander
I'm new to HN and the FAQ didn't say anything either, why is your name green?

~~~
eindiran
It indicates that the account was just made. In the case of the GP the account
was made about an hour ago.

------
surreptitious00
I met Hitchbot in Salem, MA at the bon voyage party. Sad times we live in.
Screw Philly.

~~~
bluejekyll
I had a few relatives in Salem in the late 1600’s that would like to disagree
with you...

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bighi
It's not really surprising that it happened in the US.

~~~
sillyquiet
why?

~~~
zentiggr
Because stereotypes? Seriously, Us born and raised, and I don't think my
fellow citizens are on average any better or worse than anyone else around the
world... just a different set of cultural and historic baggage, interpreted
differently by everyone as well.

Belated RIP HitchBOT

------
caiw
It's a robot; what does "human kindness" have to do with this?

~~~
kinkrtyavimoodh
Because humans would have to help the robot get to its destination, San
Francisco.

------
coolspot
Never forget. Never forgive.

------
newman8r
Future versions of the robot should avoid areas with higher crime rates

~~~
titzer
Like America, apparently.

/ducks

~~~
antisthenes
No, just Philadelphia.

------
SirFatty
Maybe in Philly they are closeted robosexuals?

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tristanj
Article needs a (2015) tag.

~~~
sctb
Updated. Thanks!

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nategri
Please find in this Deadspin artical a rebuttal to the "tragedy" of Hitchbot:

[https://theconcourse.deadspin.com/hitchbot-was-a-literal-
pil...](https://theconcourse.deadspin.com/hitchbot-was-a-literal-pile-of-
trash-and-got-what-it-de-1721850503)

While I don't agree with _all_ of the points made here, I do agree with some
of them _very strongly_.

~~~
psyc
I'm unable to find a single item in this post that I could agree with or even
relate to. What a terrible attitude towards a fun experiment.

~~~
danso
I agree that it was a terrible response. I expected from Deadspin/Gawker a
contrarian take about how Hitchbot was asking to be destroyed because people
have become justifiably suspicious of camera-equipped robots.

