While technology has brought undeniable advancements to many parts of our daily lives, there's still some serious work to be done before machines can be trusted with any more power than they already have – this became particularly evident after an incident last Tuesday.
Russia's annual Moscow Chess Open took place from the 13th to the 21st, during which one young competitor found himself suffering from a broken finger at the hands of a chess-playing robot, who reportedly reacted to being "rushed" by the 7-year-old.
Example of a chess-playing robot, taken at the Industrial Technology Research Institute in 2018 -- Picture Alliance/Getty Images
"A robot broke a child's finger – this is, of course, bad," Moscow Chess Federation president Sergey Lazarev told TASS Media. "The robot was rented by us, it has been exhibited in many places by specialists for a long time."
He continued, "Apparently, the operators overlooked some flaws. The child made a move, and after that, it is necessary to give time for the robot to respond, but the boy hurried, [and] the robot grabbed him. We have nothing to do with the robot."
As CNN notes, the young player continued to compete after receiving medical attention and having his finger put in a cast. "The child played the next day, finished the tournament in a cast, and volunteers helped to record the moves."
"We will coordinate to understand what happened and try to help [the family] in any way we can," Lazarev added. "And the robot's operators, apparently, will have to think about strengthening protection so that such a situation does not happen again."
Footage from the Moscow Chess Open incident has been circulating online, earning plenty of reactions from concerned social media users – check some out below, and tap back in with HNHH later for more pop culture news updates.
[Via]