1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,920 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:15,280 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:15,680 --> 00:00:18,400 Speaker 1: a show that shines a light on the ups and 4 00:00:18,600 --> 00:00:24,599 Speaker 1: downs of everyday history. I'm Gay Bluesier, and today we're 5 00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:28,440 Speaker 1: talking about a Michigan auto worker who earned the dubious 6 00:00:28,520 --> 00:00:32,479 Speaker 1: distinction of being the first person in human history to 7 00:00:32,560 --> 00:00:46,199 Speaker 1: be killed by a robot. The day was January nineteen 8 00:00:46,440 --> 00:00:51,320 Speaker 1: seventy nine. Robert Williams, an assembly line worker at a 9 00:00:51,479 --> 00:00:55,560 Speaker 1: Ford casting plant in Flat Rock, Michigan, was killed on 10 00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:59,680 Speaker 1: the job by a robotic arm. The event was the 11 00:00:59,720 --> 00:01:03,440 Speaker 1: first human death caused by a robot and sparked us 12 00:01:03,520 --> 00:01:07,920 Speaker 1: still ongoing discussion over how robots can safely interact with 13 00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:12,920 Speaker 1: human workers without causing them harm. The robot had been 14 00:01:12,959 --> 00:01:16,840 Speaker 1: built by the Unit Handling Systems division of a company 15 00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:22,560 Speaker 1: called Litton Industries. Its purpose was to retrieve automotive castings 16 00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:26,160 Speaker 1: from a massive shelving unit and then transport them to 17 00:01:26,360 --> 00:01:30,080 Speaker 1: a different part of the factory. The five story robot 18 00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:34,559 Speaker 1: accomplished this task using a series of mechanical arms, which 19 00:01:34,600 --> 00:01:39,320 Speaker 1: each weighed one thousand kilograms or twenty two hundred pounds. 20 00:01:40,280 --> 00:01:43,920 Speaker 1: On the day of his death, in seventy nine, twenty 21 00:01:43,959 --> 00:01:47,440 Speaker 1: five year old Robert Williams had been tasked with scaling 22 00:01:47,520 --> 00:01:51,800 Speaker 1: that same giant storage rack. There were different accounts about 23 00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:55,480 Speaker 1: why exactly he was sent up there. One theory is 24 00:01:55,520 --> 00:01:58,560 Speaker 1: that a system error had led the robots to given 25 00:01:58,600 --> 00:02:02,480 Speaker 1: inaccurate parts count, so Williams was asked to climb up 26 00:02:02,560 --> 00:02:06,440 Speaker 1: and do a manual count himself. The other account is 27 00:02:06,480 --> 00:02:09,760 Speaker 1: that Williams was asked to climb the racks because the 28 00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:13,720 Speaker 1: robot was malfunctioning and not retrieving the parts as quickly 29 00:02:13,760 --> 00:02:17,480 Speaker 1: as the workers needed them. In either case, the robot 30 00:02:17,639 --> 00:02:21,120 Speaker 1: was operating side by side with Williams when all of 31 00:02:21,160 --> 00:02:25,600 Speaker 1: a sudden, it's one ton mechanical arm smashed into the 32 00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:29,520 Speaker 1: back of his head. The blow killed the man instantly. 33 00:02:30,240 --> 00:02:35,040 Speaker 1: The robot, meanwhile, continued to work silently as Williams lay 34 00:02:35,120 --> 00:02:38,480 Speaker 1: dead on the factory floor for the next thirty minutes. 35 00:02:39,720 --> 00:02:42,720 Speaker 1: He was finally found by co workers who had begun 36 00:02:42,800 --> 00:02:46,400 Speaker 1: to wonder what was taking him so long. It probably 37 00:02:46,440 --> 00:02:51,200 Speaker 1: goes without saying, but the death was totally unintentional. It 38 00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:55,280 Speaker 1: was an industrial accident and not evidence of any malicious 39 00:02:55,320 --> 00:02:58,560 Speaker 1: will on the part of the robot. Of course, that 40 00:02:58,720 --> 00:03:01,720 Speaker 1: doesn't mean that no one was at Faull. There should 41 00:03:01,720 --> 00:03:05,799 Speaker 1: have been physical safeguards in place to protect employees while 42 00:03:05,840 --> 00:03:09,560 Speaker 1: in the presence of the robot. A basic collision detection 43 00:03:09,639 --> 00:03:13,320 Speaker 1: feature would have sounded in an alarm to warn Williams 44 00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:18,079 Speaker 1: of the approaching arm. However, no such feature had been installed. 45 00:03:19,120 --> 00:03:23,960 Speaker 1: Robert Williams family sued the robots manufacturer for his wrongful death, 46 00:03:24,480 --> 00:03:27,480 Speaker 1: arguing that if human workers weren't supposed to be near 47 00:03:27,560 --> 00:03:30,360 Speaker 1: the robot when it was operating, then they should have 48 00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:34,800 Speaker 1: installed safety features to prevent that from happening. The jury 49 00:03:34,840 --> 00:03:38,440 Speaker 1: deliberated for just two and a half hours before announcing 50 00:03:38,480 --> 00:03:42,960 Speaker 1: the decision against the manufacturer. The company was ordered to 51 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:47,160 Speaker 1: pay ten million dollars in damages to William's widow and 52 00:03:47,280 --> 00:03:52,320 Speaker 1: three children, representing the largest personal injury award in Michigan 53 00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:56,960 Speaker 1: history at the time. The next death by robot took 54 00:03:57,000 --> 00:04:01,240 Speaker 1: place in Japan just over two years later. Once again, 55 00:04:01,600 --> 00:04:05,600 Speaker 1: a robot arm failed to notice a nearby worker, thirty 56 00:04:05,640 --> 00:04:09,360 Speaker 1: seven year old Kenji Eurata, and accidentally pushed him to 57 00:04:09,480 --> 00:04:14,360 Speaker 1: his death. In the decades since these early tragedies, human 58 00:04:14,440 --> 00:04:18,720 Speaker 1: deaths caused by robots or other forms of artificial intelligence 59 00:04:18,880 --> 00:04:23,599 Speaker 1: have become all too common in recent years. Autonomous and 60 00:04:23,760 --> 00:04:29,120 Speaker 1: self driving cars have proven particularly accident prone, with numerous 61 00:04:29,160 --> 00:04:33,960 Speaker 1: reports of cars striking pedestrians or killing passengers and collisions 62 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:38,279 Speaker 1: that should have been avoided. Even though AI has gotten 63 00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:42,600 Speaker 1: much more sophisticated since the nineteen seventies, and even with 64 00:04:42,760 --> 00:04:46,880 Speaker 1: many safeguards now in place, the thread of being killed 65 00:04:46,920 --> 00:04:51,240 Speaker 1: by a robot now seems greater than ever. Governments have 66 00:04:51,400 --> 00:04:55,360 Speaker 1: begun to regulate industrial robots, but there's still a lot 67 00:04:55,360 --> 00:04:59,400 Speaker 1: of gray areas in so called robot law. This has 68 00:04:59,480 --> 00:05:03,719 Speaker 1: led some computer scientists and AI experts to ponder the 69 00:05:03,880 --> 00:05:08,479 Speaker 1: legal implications of robots that are capable of autonomous action. 70 00:05:09,279 --> 00:05:12,520 Speaker 1: It could be that in the not too distant future 71 00:05:13,120 --> 00:05:18,400 Speaker 1: they might even need lawyers of their own. I'm Gay 72 00:05:18,440 --> 00:05:22,120 Speaker 1: Bluesier and hopefully you now know a little more about 73 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:26,760 Speaker 1: history today than you did yesterday. You can learn even 74 00:05:26,839 --> 00:05:30,640 Speaker 1: more about history by following us on Twitter, Facebook, and 75 00:05:30,760 --> 00:05:35,599 Speaker 1: Instagram at t d i HC Show, and if you 76 00:05:35,640 --> 00:05:38,719 Speaker 1: have any comments or suggestions, you can always send them 77 00:05:38,760 --> 00:05:43,560 Speaker 1: my way at this day at I heart media dot com. 78 00:05:43,560 --> 00:05:46,760 Speaker 1: Thanks to Chandler Mays for producing the show and thank 79 00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:50,280 Speaker 1: you for listening. I'll see you back here again tomorrow 80 00:05:50,680 --> 00:06:01,160 Speaker 1: for another day in history class. For more podcasts for 81 00:06:01,240 --> 00:06:04,039 Speaker 1: my Heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 82 00:06:04,080 --> 00:06:05,839 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.