Incident 68: Security Robot Drowns Itself in a Fountain

Description: A Knightscope K5 security robot ran itself into a water fountain in Washington, DC.

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Alleged: Knightscope developed and deployed an AI system, which harmed Knightscope.

Incident Stats

Incident ID
68
Report Count
30
Incident Date
2017-07-17
Editors
Sean McGregor

CSETv0 Taxonomy Classifications

Taxonomy Details

Full Description

A robot at an office building in Washington, DC ran itself into a water fountain. The robot, named Knightscope K5, was developed as a security robot that uses facial recognition and a variety of sensors to detect criminals. The reasons the robot fell into the fountain are unclear.

Short Description

A Knightscope K5 security robot ran itself into a water fountain in Washington, DC.

Severity

Negligible

Harm Type

Harm to physical property

AI System Description

The robot developed by the start-up contains autonomous driving and facial recognition abilities

System Developer

Knightscope

Sector of Deployment

Administrative and support service activities

Relevant AI functions

Perception, Cognition, Action

AI Techniques

Facial recognition, environmental sensing

AI Applications

autonomous driving, self-driving vehicle

Location

Washington, D.C.

Named Entities

Knightscope, Knightscope K5, Mountain View, Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), Stanford Shopping Center

Technology Purveyor

Knightscope

Beginning Date

2017-07-17

Ending Date

2017-07-17

Near Miss

Unclear/unknown

Intent

Accident

Lives Lost

No

Data Inputs

Photographs

GMF Taxonomy Classifications

Taxonomy Details

Known AI Goal

Autonomous Drones

Potential AI Technology

Image Segmentation

Potential AI Technical Failure

Generalization Failure

CSETv1 Taxonomy Classifications

Taxonomy Details

Harm Distribution Basis

none

Sector of Deployment

administrative and support service activities

DC security robot says everything is fine, throws itself into pool
engadget.com · 2017

Don't read too much into this, but a security robot face-planted into an indoor fountain inside of a Washington, DC office building today. It's a coincidence, we're sure, but maybe this robot just knows what everyone else in DC does. Robots…

DC security robot quits job by drowning itself in a fountain
theverge.com · 2017

I’m sorry to inform you that perhaps some robots are taking this whole “be more human” thing a bit too far. I’ve seen people make jokes about jumping into a river or out of a window when they feel distressed, but one DC-based security robot…

Security robot falls into pond after failing to spot stairs or water
theregister.co.uk · 2017

A security robot tasked with patrolling an office building in Washington DC has instead driven itself into a water feature.

The bot appears to have been a Knightscope K5, a surveillance bot designed to roll around “parking lots, corporate c…

Robot Security Guard Commits Suicide in Public Fountain
nymag.com · 2017

From a Wall Street Journal report on Friday:

Days before Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar launched an offensive to seize the capital and attempt to unite the divided country under his rule, Saudi Arabia promised tens of millions of …

Security Robot Drowns in Fountain to Internet's Amusement
time.com · 2017

Twitter tributes have flooded in for a state of the art security robot that plunged wheel-over-nosecone into a shallow fountain near Washington D.C. — and couldn’t get back up.

The roving robot — a four-foot tall oblong affair developed by …

This Robot Was Meant To Patrol An Office Building. Instead, It Fell Into A Fountain.
huffingtonpost.com · 2017

The rise of the robots has been (slightly) dampened.

An autonomous 300-pound crime-fighting android tasked with patrolling an office building in Washington, D.C., met an untimely end on Monday — after it tumbled into a water fountain.

Twitt…

Security guard robot ends it all by throwing itself into a watery grave
arstechnica.com · 2017

The automation revolution, where most of our jobs are replaced by robots and we spend the rest of our days floating around on rubber rings sipping piña coladas, has hit a snag: a Knightscope K5 security bot appears to have fallen down som…

DC security robot K5 quits job by drowning itself in a fountain
cnbc.com · 2017

I'm sorry to inform you that perhaps some robots are taking this whole "be more human" thing a bit too far. I've seen people make jokes about jumping into a river or out of a window when they feel distressed, but one DC-based security robot…

Suicidal robot security guard drowns itself by driving into pond
independent.co.uk · 2017

A robot has drowned itself by driving into a pool.

The company markets the security robot as better than real guards in part because it never gets bored of what it does. But it appears to have looked to put an end to that work and has drive…

When Robot Face-Plants In Fountain, Onlookers Show Humanity - By Gloating
npr.org · 2017

When Robot Face-Plants In Fountain, Onlookers Show Humanity — By Gloating

The rise of artificial intelligence poses its fair share of dangers. Last year, for instance, physicist Stephen Hawking said its development could be "either the best…

Knightscope security robot goes viral after fountain fall
dailymail.co.uk · 2017

Alas, it seems we've got a few more years before the robots take over.

A security robot created by the company Knightscope was patrolling an office complex in Washington D.C. when it rolled into a fountain and met its untimely demise on Mon…

DC security robot can't take the job pressure, jumps in pool to end itself
indiatoday.in · 2017

Managing work-related stress is tough. We've all been there, trying our best to cope with pressure at our work places. Now the bots are learning how difficult it is to be a human. A security robot patrolling at the Washington Harbour office…

A Robot Security Guard Just Drowned Itself by Driving into a Water Fountain
interestingengineering.com · 2017

Apparently, even robots have bad days. For one robot, the bad day was just too much that it has thrown itself into a fountain. The security robot at a D.C. mall appears to have made the potentially suicidal decision all by itself. The fed u…

Security Robot Takes Its Own Life in DC Fountain Tragedy
extremetech.com · 2017

On July 17, a Knightscope K5 robot appears to have lost all patience for its job as a security guard and flung itself into a water fountain. It’s not exactly clear where in Washington DC the incident took place, with mentions of both GMMB a…

The 'suicidal robot' that drowned in a fountain didn't kill itself after all
independent.co.uk · 2017

A security robot called Steve did not commit suicide by falling into a fountain in Washington DC, but due to a tragic accident.

After retrieving data from Steve the roboguard’s black box discovered that the accident was caused not by suicid…

Robot cop found face down in office-block fountain
theguardian.com · 2017

Machine built to keep humans in check defeated by stairs and fountain in incident where ‘no one was harmed’

The machine uprising has been dealt a serious blow after a robot cop was found face down in a fountain.

Built to autonomously patrol…

Security robot 'drowns itself' in office fountain
telegraph.co.uk · 2017

But this particular robot, for reasons as yet not known, appears to have driven down the steps of the fountain in the middle of the office and ended up floating sideways, rendering it immobile. It was removed, although is likely to have bee…

This robot is designed to keep people safe, but it fell in a fountain and couldn't get up
businessinsider.com.au · 2017

The Knightscope K5 security robot’s job is to be on the look out for crime.

It might also want to keep an eye on where it’s going.

Officer workers at the Georgetown Harbour office and retail space in Washington D.C. tweeted photos on Monday…

The robot revolution has been put on hold
qz.com · 2017

If you’re worried about the inevitable rise of the robots and the destruction of the human race—don’t be.

One of the robots produced by Knightscope—which produces egg- and car-shaped security robots and wants everyone with spare cash to inv…

Security Robot Commits Suicide In Fountain Because The World Is Terrible
iflscience.com · 2017

In this day and age of climate change-denying presidents, lack of healthcare, and anti-vaxxers, it’s easy to get downtrodden about the world. For one robot, things got a bit too much, and it appears to have thrown itself into a fountain in …

Robot Security Guard 'Drowns Itself' In Water Fountain
huffingtonpost.com.au · 2017

A security guard robot has met a watery end in a shopping centre water fountain, prompting a social media storm of doomsday predictions about suicidal robots and Marvin-related humour.

The Knightscope security robot was patrolling the Georg…

Security robot 'in critical condition' after nearly drowning on the job
edition.cnn.com · 2017

(CNN) It was one small step for security technology, but one giant leap in the wrong direction for robotkind.

A security robot in Washington -- lovingly named Steve -- plunged down four steps into a fountain Monday.

Our D.C. office building…

Washington DC security robot drowns in fountain, internet erupts
stuff.co.nz · 2017

The watery demise of a security robot in Washington, DC was seized on by social media commentators as a stark metaphor for our times.

The K5 autonomous robot was patrolling outside the Washington Harbour office and retail complex on Tuesday…

A Robot Security Guard Rolled Its Way Into a Fountain
slate.com · 2017

A Knightscope robot in better days. Knightscope

Robots can do all kinds of things that humans just can’t.

They can sit in the same place for years and weld car parts together with a level of precision that no human can faithfully reproduce.…

Security robot drowns in a fountain
usatoday.com · 2017

CLOSE A security robot drowned in a Georgetown fountain. Time

Guillermo Meneses remembers the good times with Steve, the security robot who tragically died Monday. (Photo: @Gil_Meneses on Twitter)

He was only with us a few days. But, the lo…

bostonglobe.com · 2017

The robot that patrols the Prudential Center in Boston. The same type of robot recently fell into a fountain in Washington, D.C.

Looks like the type of robot patrolling the Pru isn’t as indestructible as one might think.

The same type of eg…

Robot Drowns Itself In Washington D.C. Pool
knowyourmeme.com · 2017

Steve the Robot seemed to be living an idyllic life. Designed and built by the Silicon Valley startup Knightscope Inc. in 2014, the five-foot-tall android had just begun his new job as a security guard in the halls of MRP Realty’s headquart…

A Security Robot Called Steve Rolled Into a Pool and Drowned
digitaltrends.com · 2017

Share

The robot apocalypse is clearly a ways off if news out of Washington, D.C., this week is anything to go by. A security robot working at the Washington Harbour complex in Georgetown met a nasty end when it toppled into a water feature …

Revealed: how the K5 security robot ended up in a fountain
smh.com.au · 2017

This is probably not the security droid we're looking for.

The egg-shaped robot, known as the K5 Autonomous Data Machine, drew sympathy and jeers on Monday after it stumbled down a set of steps and into a fountain at Washington Harbour, an …

11 robot fails, flubs, and pratfalls from the past year
zdnet.com · 2018

Boston Dynamics makes some mighty impressive robots. One of them is Atlas, a 6'3" humanoid that made its public debut in 2013 and competed in the DARPA Robotics Challenge.

But during a test exercise last year, video of which Boston Dynamics…

Variants

A "variant" is an incident that shares the same causative factors, produces similar harms, and involves the same intelligent systems as a known AI incident. Rather than index variants as entirely separate incidents, we list variations of incidents under the first similar incident submitted to the database. Unlike other submission types to the incident database, variants are not required to have reporting in evidence external to the Incident Database. Learn more from the research paper.

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