A few days ago, a man attacked a robot in the street in downtown Moscow: How on the surveillance camera images As can be seen, the apparently drunk man kicked the approaching delivery robot and then pushed it to the side. This is not the first incident of this kind: In Los Angeles, delivery robots are repeatedly the victims of vandalism. As the local station KTLA 5 reportedangry passers-by kick the devices and even steal content: Burgers, burritos, pizzas.
The knee-high, autonomous delivery robots that deliver fast food to the door in big cities and universities and whose numbers have exploded since the Corona pandemic are a nuisance among residentsbecause they clog up sidewalks and are tripping hazards. The robots represent a dangerous obstacle, especially for people with walking disabilities. Citizens’ initiatives have therefore been protesting against the vehicles for some time.
Resistance is also forming at universities against delivery robots, which, as in Berkeley, partly remotely controlled by students in ColombiaA student reported to the Bored Panda portal that she had been hit by a robot three times. In a petition Students at East Carolina University (ECU) are calling on robots to stop “terrorizing” students with disabilities on campus: “The delivery robots block curbs, obstruct walkways, ram students, and take jobs away from students and citizens.”
Angry mob sets Waymo robot taxi on fire
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This sentence is remarkable in that it expresses not only a security aspect, but also a socio-economic one: the fear of young people of losing their jobs. Delivery robots are creating serious competition for courier drivers: jobs that young people use to finance their studies or earn a little extra money are now being done by robots.
And that makes some people aggressive. In February 2024, an angry mob in San Francisco smashed the windows of a Waymo robot taxi and set the vehicle on fire. It was the peak of violence against machines to date. Last year, masked activists in San Francisco Traffic cones placed on the hoods of robotaxis and put the cars into a “panic mode” so that they could no longer drive. The protest, which the group Safe Street Rebel was intended to send a signal against the hijacking of public space by corporations.
In San Francisco, a mob sets fire to a Waymo robotaxi.Michael Vandi via Reuters
In the San Francisco Bay Area, where tech companies such as Google, Apple and Facebook are based, the social problems of technological change are revealed as if under a magnifying glass: Housing shortage, gentrification, traffic collapseTen years ago, angry residents threw stones at Google buses and blocked access roads because they feared that the well-paid software engineers would compete with them for their living space and drive them out of the city. The Google bus became a symbol of class struggle. In other places too, such as Philadelphia, where in 2015 the hitchhiking robot “hitchBOT” was destroyed by vandalsa diffuse hostility towards technology is released.
Workers are “cyborgized” for maximum profit
The sabotage of machines goes back a long way in the history of capitalism. In the 19th century, textile workers – first in northern England, later on the continent – destroyed mechanical looms and set factories on fire. The Luddites, named after the weaver Ned Ludd, who, according to legend, smashed two knitting machines in Leicestershire in 1779 and instigated a revolt, wanted to protest against automation. And today? Taxi drivers set Uber vehicles on fire, residents throw stones at buses and demolish delivery robots. Is history repeating itself?
US journalist Brian Merchant is covering in his current book “Blood in the Machine” (2024) the historical arc between the Luddites of the past and the uprisings against Big Tech of today – and recognizes parallels in them: Just as the weavers in the 19th century were afraid of being replaced by machines, today Uber drivers and Amazon warehouse workers are afraid of being replaced by a robot.
Platform capitalism, says Merchant, is based on the same exploitative structures as Manchester capitalism: platforms such as Amazon, Uber or Instacart are building a kind of “psychic factory” “that cyborgizes its workers for maximum productivity”thus turning themselves into a kind of machine: the gig workers, the industrial reserve army of data capitalism, mechanically click on their smartphone apps and move from job to job.
Sometimes you want to smash your laptop
But despite all the historical parallels between the first and fourth industrial revolutions, the technological conditions are completely different today: Artificial intelligence essentially replaces mental power rather than muscle power. And the means of production from back then are also different from those of today: smartphones, computers, data centers.
Of course, everyone sometimes feels the desire to smash their laptop with a hammer, as reviewer Kyle Chayka smugly noted in the New YorkerBut even if you destroyed your work equipment, the data machinery in the data centers would continue to run. Unlike the weaver, the Uber driver cannot simply destroy the means of production – in this case his own car – because then he would no longer be able to drive and would be replaced by another one. The program code cannot be smashed with a hammer.
Destroying or sabotaging a robot taxi is therefore an ineffective attempt to throw a spanner in the works. You would have to blow up several data centers to bring the digital factory lines to a standstill. The new Luddites therefore do not destroy machines, but simply switch off their own.
The Rise of Violence Against Food Delivery Robots
In recent months, there have been numerous reports of vandalism and theft targeting food delivery robots in various cities around the world. These incidents have left many wondering why people are taking out their frustrations on these autonomous machines.
A recent incident in Moscow, where a drunk man was caught on surveillance camera attacking a delivery robot, highlights the growing trend of violence against these machines [1[1[1[1]. But this is not an isolated incident. In Los Angeles, delivery robots have been repeatedly attacked and vandalized, with angry passers-by kicking the devices and even stealing food items [2[2[2[2]. Similarly, in California and North Carolina, food deliveries and grocery runs have been stolen from delivery robots operating in these areas [3[3[3[3].
So, why are people targeting these robots? One reason is that they are seen as a nuisance by some residents, who claim that they clog up sidewalks and are tripping hazards, particularly for people with walking disabilities. Citizens’ initiatives have been protesting against the vehicles for some time, citing concerns about public safety and the impact on local businesses [4[4[4[4].
Universities have also seen resistance to delivery robots, with students complaining about the obstruction of walkways and the loss of jobs for students and citizens. In Berkeley, students have reported being hit by robots multiple times, and a petition has been started to stop the “terrorizing” of disabled students on campus [5[5[5[5].
The fear of job loss is a significant factor in the growing resentment towards delivery robots. With the rise of autonomous technology, many young people are worried about losing their jobs as courier drivers, which are often used to finance studies or earn extra money [6[6[6[6].
The violence against delivery robots is not limited to vandalism and theft. In February 2024, an angry mob in San Francisco smashed the windows of a
