This attempt to exculpate the robot's actions (more more directly: the actions of its human programmers) is just ... bizarre. Yeah, the robot didn't specifically "grab" the boy's finger. It grabbed a piece while the boy's finger was still on it. Without having any idea what it was doing.
Same thing, in other words -- in terms of the end result. And more to the point, it was an action that a human player would most likely have bounced back from, before completing the intended motion.
The robot didn't do anything it wasn't programmed to do.
Yup, it sure didn't. And that's precisely the problem.
The robot didn't do anything. Some humans rented a machine and inexpertly operated it, no different than if I rented a back hoe and dug up a power line.
There is nothing to contest when people observe this fact.
No one is blaming the robot, but that doesn't change the fact that it's clearly not fit for purpose unlike a back hoe. A robot is expected to be smarter than a back hoe as it works autonomously, especially when it is designed to be operated near a child.
Same thing, in other words -- in terms of the end result. And more to the point, it was an action that a human player would most likely have bounced back from, before completing the intended motion.
The robot didn't do anything it wasn't programmed to do.
Yup, it sure didn't. And that's precisely the problem.