Oh, Robot

Over a month last year, an adorable science project became the first robot to complete the great Canadian road trip. Geared up with a pair of red Wellington boots and a computerized smile, hitchBOT hitchhiked from Halifax to Victoria.

The robot was a co-creation of Frauke Zeller from Ryerson University in Toronto and David Harris Smith of Montreal’s McMaster University. The pair has said the robot is part art project and part social experiment.

It’s a great social experiment, too. The adorable, if somewhat basic, robot has captured the public imagination since its first trip, and has since made a successful journey through Europe. Through GPS tracking, its random photo-taking capability and limited speech function, it has chronicled journeys many backpackers would be envious of.

But there’s a dark side to every social experiment. When hitchBOT began its first voyage, some followers worried it wouldn’t make it, mirroring the concerns that parents have when their kids use that dubious method of transportation.

Zeller and Smith didn’t have the same concern. They weren’t sure what would happen to hitch- BOT on its travels, but that’s the nature of an experiment: you can only guess at the outcome.

On July 17, hitchBOT set out from Boston, Massachusetts with a bucket list and a sign taped to its head that read, “San Francisco or bust!” to begin its American journey. That journey stopped short on Saturday when hitchBOT fans’ fears were realized.

While waiting for a ride out of Philadelphia, the robot was destroyed by unknown vandals.

Zeller and Smith’s team decided not to press charges. They also decided against revealing the images of their damaged bot. There’s good reason for that. The hitchBOT social experiment has confirmed what many of us already suspect: We can feel love and affection for almost anything, even some pool noodles attached to an empty Coors Light bucket, if we can relate to it.

Online, many expressed their anger and grief for the loss of the adorable robot. Some were calling for justice that goes beyond what is typical in a case of vandalism, as though the art project had the same human value as a magnificent African lion.

Robots are experiencing a boom in popular culture— these anthropomorphized machines we can today envision not as tin men, but as soft and lovable, with myriad uses in human life, from healthcare and work assistance to even romantic love, on the fringes.

Those who came across hitchBOT felt affection for it, too. It had joined in family travels, been taken to pubs and sport games. Strangers had welcomed the creation into their cars across two continents.

What happened in Philadelphia seemed inevitable. While it’s disappointing to those who hoped to see hitchBOT make it to yet another destination, its untimely demise just added drama to what was a wonderful art project and social experiment for our age of technology.

mihal@mihalzada.com