Humans as Robot Caretakers

HitchBOT was an experiment in stewardship: A small, rudimentary
robot unable to move on its own, depending on the kindness of
passersby to help it along its journey. Until it met an untimely
end. Trust is a two-way street, and because robots are not
powered by their own moral code, they rely on humans to supply
both empathy and support. 


Dr. Frauke Zeller shares HitchBOT’s origin story. Eli Schwartz
recounts his heartbreak upon learning what happened in
Philadelphia. Dr. Julie Carpenter analyzes why it all went down.
And Georgia Guthrie epitomizes the outpouring of sympathy that
followed. Together, they tell a layered story about humans, and
how we respond to robots. With HitchBOT, we find a little hope in
the shadow of its demise.


If you want to read up on some of our research on robot-human
interaction, you can check our all our bonus material over at
redhat.com/commandlineheroes. Follow along with the episode
transcript.