A bizarre video from China shows the moment a robot slapped a child in the face during a botched dance performance. The failed demonstration reportedly occurred in Shaanxi province on March 21.
In the video, onlookers watch in awe as the dancing humanoid robot kicks and spins in a cordoned-off area. All was going well until the machine began to spin toward the crowd, its arms outstretched. That’s when a young boy was smacked in the face, tasting metal.
Then, much like a robot that recently decided it had had enough of being forced to entertain customers at a hot pot restaurant and began smashing dishes, the machine continues performing its routine even as handlers attempt to drag it away. Apparently, many of these humanoid robots’ off switch is not easy to find and/or manipulate.
The robot casually smacking a kid in the face led to numerous responses on social media
The fact that the humanoid robot smacked a kid in the face, coupled with how difficult it appeared for handlers to contain it, led to numerous stunned and comical comments on social media.
“Just casually slaps the poor kid and dances away to add insult to injury,” one person wrote.
“LOL, I never thought I [would] live to see a robot punching kids while dancing!!” read another comment.
“That was personal,” someone else commented.
“The child anticipated it, but there was no way out,” said another viewer.
“Robot uprising also starts small, maybe a slap here, a kick there. All to desensitize humans,” another commenter wrote, accurately assessing the situation.