Robot Groped Teen in Cologne, Police Probe Two Owners
The Facts
- Police in Cologne, Germany, said Monday they had opened an investigation on suspicion of sexual harassment after a robot groped a teen girl and made thrusting movements early Sunday morning, with the robot's 16-year-old owner and his 19-year-old friend allegedly filming and streaming the episode.
- On Facebook on Tuesday, Cologne police criticized "inappropriate" comments and warned that sharing or joking about such incidents can worsen the impact on a victim. The alleged assault was streamed live on social media, including TikTok.
- The 16-year-old girl was standing outside a fast-food restaurant in central Cologne with two friends when the robot came up behind her, touched her buttocks and made thrusting motions, police said.
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The Spin
Industry-critical narrative
Technology has sprinted ahead of the law, leaving officers in uncharted territory while a teen is humiliated on a public street. Letting the internet grow wild for decades handed a few companies enormous power, and repeating that mistake with autonomous machines would be reckless. A broad criminal offense protecting human dignity, plus strict liability for makers, is long overdue.
Pro-industry narrative
There is nothing mysterious about a machine that only executes moves a human programmed, so blame sits squarely with the operators. Hiding behind a supposedly autonomous gadget is cowardly, and a crime does not turn into a prank because a machine delivered the humiliation. Blanket bans on robots, like the ones that now tangle up drone flying, would punish a whole field for the choices of a few.
