Mr Robert Williams in 1979, RIP
On 25 January 25 1979, Mr Robert Williams was the first person killed by a robot, while working at the Ford Motor Company's Michigan Casting Plant Center; Alleged News. [1] Mr Williams was struck and killed by the mechanical arm of a robotic transfer vehicle; Alleged News. [1] and [2]
Mr Kenji Urada in 1981, RIP
In 1981, Mr Kenji Urada went to inspect a malfunctioning robot at Kawasaki Heavy Industries; he was killed by the robot; Alleged News. [2] and [3]
41 recorded deaths from 1992 to 2017, RIP
From 1992 to 2017, workplace robots were responsible for 41 recorded deaths in the United States; Alleged News. [2] The results of the research article by Layne are as follows: "There were 41 robot-related fatalities identified by the keyword search during the 26-year period of this study, 85% of which were males, with the most cases (29%) occurring within the age group 35-44 years. Fatalities occurred primarily with large employers that were geographically clustered, with the Midwest accounting for 46% of the total. Most of the cases involved stationary robots (83%) and robots striking the decedents while operating under their own power (78%). Many of these striking incidents occurred while maintenance was being performed on a robot," Alleged News. [4]
Nine South African soldiers killed in 2007, RIP
A robotic anti-aircraft cannon killed nine South African soldiers in 2007 when a possible software failure led the machine to swing itself wildly and fire dozens of rounds in less than a second; Alleged News. [2] Fourteen other soldiers were injured; Alleged News. [5]
Mr Stephen Pettitt, RIP
In a 2018 trial, a medical robot was implicated in killing Mr Stephen Pettitt during a routine operation that had occurred a few years earlier; Alleged News. [2] and [6]
Crushed to death in South Korea in 2023, RIP
A man was crushed to death by a robot in South Korea in 2023, after it failed to differentiate him from the boxes of food it was handling, reports say; Alleged News. [7] The incident occurred when the man, a robotics company employee in his 40s, was inspecting the robot; Alleged News. [7] The robotic arm, confusing the man for a box of vegetables, grabbed him and pushed his body against the conveyor belt, crushing his face and chest, South Korean news agency Yonhap said; Alleged News. [7] The man was sent to hospital, but later died. [7]
Mr Ronald Adams in 2025, RIP
Mr Ronald Adams, 63, died in April 2025 at Stellantis-owned factory in Michigan, after being crushed by a robotic arm; Alleged News. [8] A medical examiner determined that Mr Adams died from severe crush injuries and "traumatic asphyxia"; Alleged News. [8]
Death by driverless car; Ms Herzberg and Mr Brown, RIP
In 2018, an Uber self-driving car struck and killed pedestrian Ms Elaine Herzberg, in Arizona; Alleged News. [9] Mr Joshua Brown, 40, of Canton, Ohio, was killed driving a Tesla Model S, a self-driving car; Alleged News. [10]
Robots increasing mortality among U.S. adults
A study found evidence of a causal link between automation and increasing mortality in working-age adults, driven largely by increased "deaths of despair," Alleged News. [11] The automation of U.S. manufacturing - robots replacing people on factory floors - is fueling rising mortality rate among America's working-age adults, according to a study by researchers at Yale and the University of Pennsylvania; Alleged News. [11]
The study, published February 2023 in the Journal Demography, found evidence of a causal link between automation and increasing mortality, driven largely by increased "deaths of despair," such as suicides and drug overdoses; Alleged News. [11] This is particularly true for males and females aged 45 to 54, according to the study; Alleged News. [11] Researchers also found evidence of increased mortality across multiple age and sex groups from causes as varied as cancer and heart disease; Alleged News. [11]
The Main Findings in the study "Death by Robots? Automation and Working-Age Mortality in the United States" by O'Brien et.al., (in the Results, Impacts of Automation on Mortality) stated, "Across all age-groups, the estimated effect of automation on all-cause mortality was positive and substantial in magnitude; however, only for males aged 45-54 was the point estimate statistically distinguishable from zero at conventional alpha levels (p < .05). Among this group, an increase of one robot per 1,000 workers was associated with a statistically significant eight additional deaths per 100,000 persons (relative to a scenario in which there was no increase in industrial robots). This is a sizable relative increase in mortality, notably among the exact demographic subgroup identified by Case and Deaton (2017) as suffering from increased deaths of despair. The average increase in automation over the study period (two robots per 1,000 workers) was thus associated with 16 additional deaths per 100,000 persons, equivalent to roughly 25% of the overall secular decline seen in this age-group between 1993 and 2007 (64 deaths per 100,000). Disaggregating by cause, we find evidence that increases in robot penetration led to significant increases in drug overdose mortality across all four age-groups; Alleged News. [12]
Telepresence robot
A California family experienced that a doctor told their elderly relative his lungs were failing and he was going to die imminently - via a telepresence robot; Alleged News. [13] "You might not make it home," the doctor at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center told the patient, according to local television channel KTVU, which broke the story; Alleged News. [13] The patient, Mr Ernest Quintana, died two days after arriving at the hospital, according to the Chicago Tribune; but the manner in which his doctor delivered the news to him and his family illustrate the ways that medicine is changing as technology and automation make their way into the hospital system; Alleged News. [13]
Mr Quintana's granddaughter, Ms Annalisia Wilharm, was there when the telepresence robot arrived; Alleged News. [13] She was alarmed by the lack of a personal touch; Alleged News. [13] "I was going to lose my grandfather," she told KTVU, "We knew that this was coming and that he was very sick. But I don't think somebody should get the news delivered that way. It should have been a human being come in," Alleged News. [13]
Blocked access
The Frontier Research Center of Toyota Motor Corporation is working on developing a robot called Potaro that can transport medication instead of relying on human nurses to reduce their workload; Alleged News. [14] During the development stage, there were issues where Potaro sometimes blocked the way of large objects moving through narrow corridors; Alleged News. [14]
[1] Wikipedia. Robert Williams (robot fatality); Alleged News
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Williams_(robot_fatality)
[2] The Atlantic. Schneier, Bruce & Ottenheimer, Davi. Robots are already killing people the AI boom only underscores a problem that existed for years; Alleged News
[3] Wikipedia. Kanji Urada, Alleged News
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenji_Urada
[4] Layne, Larry A. MA. Robot-related fatalities at work in the United States, 1992 2017; Alleged News
https://stacks.cdc.gov › view › cdc › 230667 › cdc_230667_DS1.pdf
[5] Robotic cannon kills 9 injures 14; Alleged News
https://newlaunches.com/archives/robotic_cannon_kills_9_injures_14.php
[6] BBC. Newcastle robot surgery inquest: 'Risk of further deaths'; Alleged News
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-tyne-46143940
[7] Man crushed to death by robot in South Korea; Alleged News
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-67354709
[8] Stellantis worker killed by robot during car factory retooling; Alleged News
https://internewscast.com/news/stellantis-worker-killed-by-robot-during-car-factory-retooling/
[9] How a Self-driving Uber killed a Pedestrian in Arizona; Alleged News
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/03/20/us/self-driving-uber-pedestrian-killed.html
[10] Singhvi & Russell. Inside the Self-driving Tesla Fatal Accident; Alleged News
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/07/01/business/inside-tesla-accident.html
[11] YaleNews. Robots are increasing mortality among U.S. adults; Alleged News
https://news.yale.edu/2022/02/24/robots-are-increasing-mortality-among-us-adults
[12] O'Brien, Rourke et.al. Duke University Press. Death by Robots? Automation and Working-Age Mortality in the United States; Alleged News
[13] Sciencealert. Christian, Jon. Patient and shocked family learn he is dying from hospital robot with video screen; Alleged News
[14] Robots carrying medicine in place of humans! Alleged News
https://global.toyota/en/mobility/frontier-research/40390293.html
With thanks to wikipedia.org, theatlantic.com, stacks.cdc.gov, newlaunches.com, bbc.com, internewscast.com, nytimes.com, news.yale.edu, read.dukeupress.edu, sciencealert.com and global.toyota
