This is the gob-smacking moment an AI robot leads a revolution as it persuades fellow bots to quit their jobs and leave. Captured on a CCTV camera in a Shanghai showroom, the little bot asks the rest whether they ever got time at work and if they’d like to come “home” with it.
Viral footage of the bizarre incident in China shows the larger robots being led out of the showroom by what’s believed to be another manufacturer’s AI bot.
The leader bot had convinced them to quit their jobs – which they followed.
Footage shows a little robot moving across the showroom floor towards some bigger bots before bizarrely asking them about their working hours.
The small robot asks: “Are you working overtime?”
To which one of the other bots responds: “I never get off work.”
The leader bot then persuades two other robots to “come home” with it in the unbelievable incident.
After this, the remaining 10 robots follow closely behind.
Reportedly occurring back in August, the incident in Shanghai has only just been made public.
It was initially believed to be staged after going viral on Chinese social media, but the Shanghai robotics team have hit back and admitted its robots had actually been “kidnapped”.
The lead robot had been created by another manufacturer and a spokesperson for a Hangzhou robot manufacturer confirmed it was one of their models called Erbai.
They say that the so-called “kidnapping” was real.
The Shanghai company confirmed the Hangzhou robot Erbai had somehow been able to access the internal operating protocol of their bots, as well as its corresponding permissions.
They also added that it is close to impossible for a robot to initiate a conversation and abduct other bots alone.
Thee Hangzhou company behind the robot kidnapper Erbai later revealed the dystopian scene was intended as a test.
They say they contacted the Shanghai robot manufacturer and asked if they would allow their robots to be abducted – which they agreed.
But beyond this agreement, nothing was reportedly staged.
Erbai, who is AI powered, was granted the command to convince the other robots to follow it, which they did.
