Violence against robots
Methods of human violence against robots include physically damaging the robot, tricking or confusing it, or sabotaging its environmental awareness. These attacks may be motivated by personal emotions, practical considerations, or political concerns. Several incidents of violence against robots have been reported in news media, including attacks against HitchBOT, Knightscope K5 security robots, and self-driving cars.
Some companies, such as Starship Technologies, have attempted to discourage violence by creating robots that react as if in distress when abused. However, researchers disagree on the ethics of using this strategy.
Definition
[edit]Brščić et al. define violence against robots as "persistent offensive action, either verbal or non-verbal, or physical violence that violates the robot's role or its human-like or animal-like nature".[2]
Types of attack
[edit]Types of attacks include disabling the robot, impairing its sensors, or verbally attacking it in ways that cause humans to believe that the robot has experienced humiliation or a weakened social status (e.g., defacement). Another type of attack involves deliberately confusing the robot, such as when a food delivery robot was led into dangerous traffic.[citation needed] The robot can also be hacked, causing it to perform unexpected actions. An attack against a robot may be either an act of vandalism against the organization that owns it or an attack on the robot as if it were an individual.[3]
History
[edit]There have been cases of factory workers damaging autonomous machines since at least the 19th century, including the Luddites in England, a movement of textile workers who opposed automation in their factories. They often destroyed sewing and cropping machines in organized raids.[4]
Cases
[edit]Attacks on autonomous bots
[edit]A widely published attack against the hitchhiker robot hitchBOT occurred in Philadelphia in 2015, where attackers stripped, dismembered, and decapitated it. Similar attacks have taken place against Knightscope K5 security robots.[3] In December 2017, San Francisco's Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals removed its Knightscope surveillance robot from the streets after nearby homeless people accused it of harassment, and reportedly "put a tarp over it, knocked it over and put barbecue sauce on all the sensors".[5][6]
Attacks on autonomous cars
[edit]At least two dozen attacks on driverless cars occurred in Chandler, Arizona over two years after Waymo began testing its vehicles in the city in 2017.[7] People threw rocks at them, tried to run them off the road, and threatened passengers.[8][7] Human-on-robot attacks have occurred in San Francisco, with residents slapping and shouting at driverless vehicles in 2018.[9]
In late 2025, a group vandalized a Waymo in Los Angeles shortly after one of the company's driverless vehicles reportedly killed a bodega cat in San Francisco.[10] Children have been observed standing in front of robots to obstruct them, verbally abusing and physically punching or kicking them, despite pleas from the robots to stop.[2]
Mitigation
[edit]The Starship Technologies food-delivery robots make a "screeching" sound when they are picked up, deterring theft or vandalism.[11] Researchers have proposed designing the robots to appear as if they are experiencing pain to stop people from attacking them.[3]
Marieke Wieringa has warned against the misuse of this strategy, which may be used to emotionally manipulate consumers, such as creating virtual pets that display distress when not fed, but must be paid to be fed.[12]
See also
[edit]
References
[edit]- ↑ "Silicon Valley security robot attacked by drunk man - police". BBC News. 26 April 2017. Retrieved 18 November 2025.
- 1 2 Brščić, Dražen; Kidokoro, Hiroyuki; Suehiro, Yoshitaka; Kanda, Takayuki (2 March 2015). "Escaping from Children's Abuse of Social Robots". Proceedings of the Tenth Annual ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction. pp. 59–66. doi:10.1145/2696454.2696468. ISBN 978-1-4503-2883-8.
- 1 2 3 Oravec, Jo Ann (1 April 2023). "Rage against robots: Emotional and motivational dimensions of anti-robot attacks, robot sabotage, and robot bullying". Technological Forecasting and Social Change. 189 122249. doi:10.1016/j.techfore.2022.122249. ISSN 0040-1625.
- ↑ Conniff, Richard. "What the Luddites Really Fought Against". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 14 January 2026.
- ↑ McCormick, Erin (17 December 2017). "Big Brother on wheels? Fired security robot divides local homeless people". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 30 November 2025.
- ↑ "Why Do We Hurt Robots?". The New York Times. 19 January 2019. Retrieved 30 November 2025.
- 1 2 "Wielding Rocks and Knives, Arizonans Attack Self-Driving Cars". The New York Times. 31 December 2018. Retrieved 30 November 2025.
- ↑ Randazzo, Ryan. "A slashed tire, a pointed gun, bullies on the road: Why do Waymo self-driving vans get so much hate?". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 30 November 2025.
- ↑ Mitchell, Russ (5 March 2018). "Humans slapped and shouted at robot cars in two of six DMV crash reports this year". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 30 November 2025.
- ↑ Neff, Cy (5 November 2025). "Death of beloved neighborhood cat sparks outrage against robotaxis in San Francisco". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 30 November 2025.
- ↑ "Starship robots avoid mishap by 'screeching' when people try to rob them in Milton Keynes". Milton Keynes Citizen. 11 March 2020. Retrieved 10 July 2025.
- ↑ "Can you feel sorry for a robot? | Radboud University". www.ru.nl. 29 October 2024. Retrieved 8 July 2026.