Forget taking our jobs, humanoid robots are apparently starting at the bottom. People have spotted multiple humanoid robots begging on the streets of China, asking for money to pay their “electricity fees.”
Observers have seen the robots sitting on the street or kneeling with their heads lowered. Additionally, they have been pleading with humans for monetary donations while sad music plays over a speaker.
Dexerto reports the humanoid robots have been telling human passersby things like “I have no money to charge my phone” or “Please pay my electricity bill.” Another report from Gadet Review said one robot was wearing an LED display that read “desperately need electricity fees.”
There are also donation bowls for cash and QR codes next to them that direct people to a website where they can make a digital donation via the WeChat app.
At least one of them is a Unitree G1 humanoid robot, priced at $13,500. So, of course, it didn’t choose to beg all by itself (we hope); someone programmed it to do so. People have spotted them begging on the streets of Beijing, Chengdu, and Fuzhou.
The question is why? Is it some sort of performance art or just a new, creative way for someone to make a little extra money?
At least these begging humanoid robots are harmless
Twice in the past few months, humanoid robots have struck children during a demonstration.
A bizarre incident that reportedly occurred in Shaanxi province of China on March 21 saw a robot slapping a child in the face during a botched dance performance. The fact that it smacked a kid in the face, coupled with how difficult it appeared for handlers to contain it, led to numerous stunned reactions.
Less than two months later, another dancing humanoid robot struck a child during a demonstration in China. In a video of the incident, the boy moved in close to a robot wearing a blue clown wig during a performance, and the robot’s foot struck the child in the abdomen as it performed a spinning roundhouse kick.