Many of you may have witnessed the video of a humanoid robot attack. Some were quick enough to judge that this was actually a malfunction of a robot. And of course, some were really concerned about safety. And some think that AI has taken control of everything. In fact, so many men, so many opinions. But the good thing is that it was actually preplanned.

Interesting Engineering reported on July 5 that this viral video of a robot from Indonesia, which people think got out of control, was actually a planned demonstration. The kicking, lunges, martial arts, and everything else were already set up.

This clip got the attention of millions of people worldwide. It can be seen in the footage that the robot, wearing a blue wig, performs martial arts-style kicks and lunges close to staff working in the office. A random person scrolling through social media who does not know the context can easily get the impression that a robot is putting people at risk.

However, Interesting Engineering’s report made it clear that the robot was programmed for this to show its agility and balance. It wasn’t malfunctioning or broken.

Why Are These Robots So Easy to Misunderstand

For an average viewer who has no idea about the latest technology, these robots can cause confusion. The same happened this time. Because these robots look like humans, it is very difficult to tell whether they are controlled by a human or preprogrammed.

According to The New Yorker, many impressive humanoid robot videos come from controlled settings, and getting these robots to move just as reliably outside of those settings is still a real challenge. So the problem wasn’t really with the robot but with the communication. There must be clear context or information with the video for average viewers, so they know that it is preplanned.

The Solution

So what is the solution for all this? To avoid this chaos, experts suggest that there must be a few precautionary measures that need to be adopted before showing off these humanoid robots in public:

• Always make sure that there are clearly visible and easy-to-use stop buttons so that, in case of an emergency, they can be used immediately.
• When a robot is operating near people, there must be trained staff available at the spot.
• There must be a clear label on robot videos that are preprogrammed or scripted. This will help viewers understand that this is intentional.
• If something happens, then the company must be transparent about it. They must clearly state what has actually happened, whether the robot was operated remotely by a human or following a preset script.

The Bigger Picture

This isn’t about a viral video. As more humanoid robots are getting into the market, there may be growing safety concerns. This is not the first time a robot video has raised such concerns. Earlier, in March, TechCrunch and Futurism reported a few incidents in restaurants that showed serious concerns about robot safety.

The point here is that these incidents can be real and need to be paid attention to. So even though this video was misunderstood and turned out to be harmless, there are still questions that need to be addressed. As more humanoid robots enter restaurants, offices, and even homes, the real problem will not only be about making them operate smoothly. It will also be about making sure that people’s safety isn’t compromised.