A Surviving Facts Blog
Remember Death of a Salesman? Traveling salesman Willy Loman is tired of his job, his apartment, the changing times- all of which are evolving too quickly for him. He meanders through memories, dreams, regrets and conflicts until he commits suicide at the play’s end. It’s profound and sad, the kind of play that makes you question your own life, even if you’re perfectly happy.
Now, South Korea is claiming a robot has killed itself due to work pressure and overwork. I doubt the robot had ever heard of Willy Loman or read or seen Death of a Salesman.
Compared to the rest of the world, South Korea has rapidly advanced integrating robotics into everyday business life. One robot exists for every 10 workers- the densest robot to human ratio in the world. The robots usually work 9 am to 6 pm, 6 days a week.
Our suicidal robot, an administrative manager called “Robot Supervisor,” worked for the Gumi City Council making deliveries, passing on documents and promoting activities. Unlike other robots, it had the ability to move around independently, even between building floors by using the elevators. The robot was well known, respected and worked hard, according to reports.
South Korea is using the robots to offset the long hours South Korean employees work. In fact, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development claims South Koreans work longer hours than most other countries it tracks. In 2022, South Korea ranked 5th among OECD countries, with Mexico at #1 and the US at #8. For those who like exact numbers, that’s 1,901 hours per year compared to Mexico’s 2,128 and the US’s 1,791. No matter the country, that’s a lot of work.
Overwork has been an enormous problem in South Korea (and in other countries- more on that below). In 2023, the country reduced the legal amount of weekly working hours from 68 to 52. The goal? To reduce the country’s suicide rate, which ranks highest among OECD countries and is believed to be related to the country’s hard-driving work culture. South Korean workers are pressured to meet immense targets, creating highly competitive and high burnout environments. The regulations do not necessarily apply to robots; however, a code of ethics is programmed into each robot to prevent human abuse and to manage robot to human relations. Working so closely together, robots and humans have to get along.
The Council’s Robot Supervisor started in August 2023 and died on June 27, 2024, not even a year later. Eye witnesses said the robot began circling in one spot as if it were “confused” before tumbling unexpectedly down a 6 1/2 foot staircase. Investigators recovered its mangled pieces and are analyzing them. Likely, they will find a sensor, software or programming error rather than suicide, though I found one tiny mention of a disgruntled former worker pushing it down the stairs.
What’s interesting is the emotion South Koreans project onto this robot. Humans often give non-human things human qualities- it’s called anthropomorphism. But as far as we know, the South Korean robot, developed by Bear Robotics in California, had not been programmed to or had not evolved to experience emotions. For South Koreans, this was likely a way to elevate the overwork issue without being penalized for questioning it. The robot brought the issue forward, and the story has been covered in media globally, with no mention of possible human sabotage.
As AI robotics take on more and more human jobs it’s likely more and more human emotions and activities will be projected onto them, especially when robots malfunction. In this way, humans can identify with the robots, relate to them and perhaps even undermine or sabotage their effectiveness. They also can use robots, perhaps as South Korea may do, to elevate issues and institute new laws or regulations protecting both humans and humanized robots.
It’s something to think about. Burnout is a major issue not just in South Korea. Talent Consultancy Mercer says in its 2024 Global Talent Trends that 80% of workers globally are at risk of burnout. That’s a lot of workers. Can robots help, as they are integrated widely into work functions, such as front desk interactions, transactional tasks, or entry-level grunt work and thankless duties reserved, at least in the US, for college grads entering the workforce? Indeed, replacing entry level jobs is already happening. Some hotels in South Korea use robots for checkin and registration, as well as guiding people to their rooms. These robots have been imbued with qualities that make them “adorable” and “friendly.”
As robots take these jobs- and they will because they are cheaper and save training and management- humans may, as in South Korea, work longer and harder to demonstrate their value. Robotics forces humans to level up their skill sets. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. But as I’ve raised in a previous blog, where do humans fit in this new environment? We will find out.
Will we do it fast enough? The role of AIs is growing, leading to human displacement and frustration. Will more people be laid off and out of work? Will this lead to dystopian belief systems much like we are seeing today? After all, Project 2025 does define personhood and womanhood. (I bet you knew I’d get Project 2025 in here somewhere.) Think about it, the greatest support for Project 2025 largely comes from states impacted by manufacturing’s robotic evolution. It’s amazing to watch these machines work- you can check it out on You Tube- but humans once had these very jobs. This evolution has lead to joblessness, despair and, some even claim, rampant opioid and meth drug abuse. Entire towns have died, all its residents jobless and hopeless.
Here’s another inflection point: AIs can be programmed to evolve independently. It’s called evolutionary robotics. AIs can change and adapt as they interact with, learn from and mimic their environments. Google’s AI bot told me that this field is still in its infancy. It’s “not yet considered fully reliable in real world applications,” the bot told me.
As they learn from us, will AIs’ evolutionary experience be like humans? Will they someday be replaced by something we can’t even imagine right now, resulting in AI bot despair and despondency? Will there be piles and piles of useless AIs? Can AIs even abuse drugs? Or as many programmers joked on an IT website sharing the story of the South Korean robot suicide, “If AIs start to realize the futility of existence, we might have to start doing our own work again.”
If you are suffering emotionally and considering suicide, please reach out for help. Your life has meaning. Call or text 988 or go to 988lifeline.org.
I would love to hear from you, even if, especially if, you disagree. Perhaps we can bring back the American tradition of civilized debate. Please like and share this blog with others. Subscribe to receive it by email and go directly to the Walk the Moon website to peruse the full collection of articles and updates.
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