People are flocking to social media in outrage after a man was caught on camera kicking a 'poor' delivery robot.
Prepare to feel like you're in an episode of Black Mirror:
It may be a week before Christmas, but one man is yet to feel the festive spirit, having been recorded unleashing his Grinch-like bad energy onto a Starship food delivery robot.
With some of the 'grocery badgers' dressed up as reindeer, the man is sure to end up on Santa's naughty list.
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But that's if an angry mob of TikTokers don't get to him first, one user having resolved to 'find the man and tell him off' for lashing out at the 'innocent' robot.
While the evolution of robots could be considered as a cause for concern - one particular android having to be shut down by its owner after saying artificial intelligence is a 'threat' - the 'grocery badgers' which have been spotted around Cambridge are simply programmed to pick up deliveries from Co-op and drop them off to residents.
Alas, despite the best intentions of the robots - using a combination of machine learning, AI and sensors to navigate their way along the streets - a TikTok video has exposed a man in a high-vis jacket for giving one 'poor' android a good few kicks.
Fair enough, it's definitely quite an alarming sight to see - a herd of small robots with flags meandering their way down the street towards you. But you could just cross to the other side of the road or sprint the other way.
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Perhaps the man was trying to help the robot make its way across the icy pavement? Whatever his intentions, the forceful nature of his kicks has ruffled a fair few feathers online.
Many social media users have since flooded to the video in outrage over the man's treatment of the bot.
One said: "Why did he kick them? I even felt sorry."
"These robots are learning now. And they WILL remember," another warned.
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A third commented: "Come on it's just a robot but why do I feel bad for it when he kicked it?"
"They need to stop with these innocent robots they can get so easily manipulated and abused they're just on their own all vulnerable," a fourth said.
A final resolved: "This should be taken to the police or the people who are in charge of the robots. The man who kicked it should have a fine."
A Starship spokesperson jokingly told LADbible: "The overwhelming majority of residents in Cambridge have really taken in our robots as part of the community and we’re proud to serve them.
"On this occasion though, our little robots will remember this unfriendly human, ready for the inevitable robot uprising scheduled sometime in the future."
Topics: TikTok, Viral, Social Media, Technology, UK News
Poppy Bilderbeck