Ideas / No Such Thing As A Fish
No Such Thing As A Safe Robot
No Such Thing As A Fish
Hitchbot's journey turns a robotics experiment into a test of human kindness, anthropomorphism, and the hazards of entering Philadelphia.
The episode includes Hitchbot, the Canadian hitchhiking robot that traveled successfully through Canada and Europe before its American journey ended more decisively. From there the Fish examine why people protect, attack, and anthropomorphize machines.
It is robotics discussion conducted at the correct scale: one vulnerable bucket-shaped traveler and an alarming sample of humanity.