Humanoid robot created a flutter and hugged students at a dance event in China

Video of the event at China’s Shaanxi University went viral and sparked a debate on Chinese social media over whether the robots developed autonomous behavior or were manipulated by their operators.

Robot participation in public events has become the “new normal” in China as the government strives to showcase China’s growing prowess in artificial intelligence, an incident that has prompted experts to develop enhanced safety measures.

Talking about this incident, a staff member told the media that the joint performance between robots and student clubs was an attempt to innovate campus cultural activities. The students involved were not injured and later declined media requests for interviews, the state-run Global Times newspaper reported on Sunday.

The robot’s unexpected behavior sparked discussion online. Some netizens questioned whether the robot had “independent consciousness”, while others questioned whether the action was controlled by the operator or pre-arranged as part of the performance.

A university staff member denied that the move was pre-programmed, saying: “Based on our understanding at the time, the robot made a mistake,” the report said.

The Global Times quoted the staff member as saying that the “error” was an artificial intelligence program glitch.

The robots used in the performance were provided by a company founded by alumni and returned after the event.

According to Shangyou News, the school subsequently contacted the company, which attributed the incident to signal interference at the venue.

According to the company, multiple drones were operating simultaneously during the performance, interfering with signals and causing the robots to behave abnormally. The company said this was not prearranged.

Gao Huan, deputy director of the Intelligence and Cognition Laboratory of Chongqing Normal University, told Shangyou News that based on the information currently available, the incident was likely caused by motion control abnormalities, execution deviations or insufficient on-site safety redundancy, and should not be interpreted to mean that the robot has developed independent consciousness.

Gao pointed out that a more important question for AI practitioners is why robots are still able to contact humans after abnormal behavior.

He explained that robots in stage performances often operate according to pre-programmed action scripts, or if the human performer deviates from the preset trajectory, it may lead to unexpected contact between the robot and the human.

Mr. Gao added that in open scenarios such as human-machine collaborative dance, exhibition interaction, and campus performances, robots should not just be regarded as ordinary stage props, but should be regarded as intelligent devices with inherent mechanical movement risks.

Gao said organizers, operators and equipment providers should conduct risk assessments in advance, including action script testing and on-site rehearsals.

If positioning errors, posture recognition deviations, execution sequence errors, etc. occur, a safe distance should be set, an emergency stop mechanism should be equipped, special personnel should be arranged for supervision, and an emergency plan should be established to deal with emergencies.

Robot involvement has become a fad in Chiba, with robot competitions and boxing matches between humanoid robots grabbing global headlines.

In a recent race between robots and amateur runners, a humanoid robot broke the human world record with a time of 50 minutes and 26 seconds, held by Ugandan star runner Jacob Kiplimo at the Lisbon half marathon in Portugal.

From hotels to hospitals, robots appear in almost all top hotels and hospitals in China, participating in different services. PTI KJV RD RD

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This article was generated from automated news agency feeds without modifications to the text.