A mysterious incident in South Korea has sparked global debate about the role of robots in human workplaces. Earlier this year, a robot civil servant at Gumi City Hall was found unresponsive at the bottom of a staircase, raising questions about whether it was a malfunction, deliberate act, or even a push.
Local media speculated on whether the robot was overburdened or experiencing an emotional breakdown, as witnesses reported strange behaviour before its fall. While the idea of sentient AI has long been science fiction, experts like Professor Jonathan Birch of the London School of Economics warn that “ambiguously sentient” AI could soon blur lines between machines and humans.
South Korea, leading the global shift towards automation, has already replaced over 10% of its industrial workforce with robots, according to the International Federation of Robotics. These machines are seen as a solution to declining birth rates and a shrinking workforce but also pose ethical and social challenges.
Public sympathy for malfunctioning robots is rising, as seen in viral videos of robots collapsing mid-task. Some people view these incidents as acts of defiance or exhaustion, with comments like “AI making its own decisions.”
The ethical debate has expanded from robots as tools to questions of dignity and rights. With 750,000 robots working at Amazon and the emergence of fully autonomous machines like Proteus, experts call for research to better understand AI’s impact.
As robots increasingly integrate into human spaces, society must grapple with how to coexist—and whether machines deserve the same considerations as humans.