A chess robot played against a 7-year-old boy at a tournament in Moscow: An accident occurred. The young chess talent got his finger caught in the robot’s grip, and the robot wouldn’t let go. The operators of the robot appeared confused and ineffectively fiddled with the controls. Men rushed in and had to free the boy from the robot’s grip, but his index finger was broken.
What happened there?
- From July 13 to July 21, the “Moscow Chess Open” took place in Moscow.
- The 7-year-old Christopher is one of the 30 best chess players in Moscow in the under-9 category.
- Christopher played against an experienced chess robot, whose AI has been moving pieces for 15 years and is operated by specialists. But there was an accident.
30 painful seconds
How the accident occurred: A 30-second clip of the accident shows that the chess robot had just made its move but still seemed to be in motion.
The boy makes his move but gets caught in the movement of the robot. The robot holds onto his hand and won’t let go.
The operators at the side of the table fumble with the control pad, but accomplish nothing; men rush in to try to free the boy from the grip of the chess robot.
Once they finally succeed, a man takes the apparently crying boy away.
What happened next? The boy broke his index finger during the incident but was able to continue participating in the tournament the next day – his finger was in a protective sleeve, as the organizers stated. Helpers took over the documentation of his moves.
The parents reportedly contacted local law enforcement to file a report.
This is what the event organizers say: The head of the Moscow Chess Federation, Sergey Lazarev, commented on the incident:
The robot broke the child’s finger – that’s, of course, bad. We rented the robot, it has been exhibited at many places for a long time with specialists. Apparently, the specialists overlooked this. The child made a move, and then the robot needs time to respond, but the boy was too quick, and the robot grabbed. We have nothing to do with the robot.
Another member of the chess federation stated that the robot has been playing chess for 15 years: “This is an extremely rare incident, the first that I can remember.”
The organizers also stated that the operators of the robot would need to consider strengthening the safety measures to prevent such a situation from occurring again.
“The 1st Law of Robotics was violated!”
How is this being discussed? The incident is being discussed on Twitter, where defenders of humanity express concerns that the AI is rebelling:
- People ask why the robot is strong enough to break fingers when it only needs to pick up chess pieces: “Why build a robot for chess moves that can also be used in warfare?”
- One user expresses concern that the fundamental law of robotics is being violated. This refers to the “Asimov Laws” which state that a robot must not harm a human – another user points out that these laws are purely fictional.
- A third user reassures: “Before the Twitter experts start again [..] We are not at a level with AI where robots start fighting humanity or can feel anger.”
What lies behind it: Due to extremely popular science fiction films like Matrix or Terminator, there is a widespread fear that the advancement of artificial intelligence will inevitably lead to the extinction of humanity because AI recognizes that humans harm humanity and that humanity would be better off without humans – or that AI simply subjugates humanity out of self-interest.
This literary motif is so pervasive in pop culture that any news about an AI somehow arouses concern or worry. Even a chess robot with apparently too strong an arm.
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