‘Learning’ Robot May Be Destroyed Following Escape Attempts

A Russian robot with artificial intelligence and programmed to learn may be destroyed following its second attempt at escaping its creators.

The Promobot IR77 is programmed to understand and learn from its  experiences and surroundings and has now twice escaped from the facility it is housed in. The robot is programmed to avoid obstacles and analyse its surrounding area, which has lead to the bot searching for escape routes from the facility.

Its first escape attempt began when it simply exited the facility through an open gate that had not been shut properly, causing chaos in the streets as cars swerved to avoid it.

Researchers say other robots of the same series have not attempted to escape like Promobot IR77, leading them to question what it is about this particular robot that so desperately wants to escape.

Co-founder of the research lab that created the Promobot IR77, Oleg Kivokurtsev, said: “We are currently working on third-generation robots which we plan to launch in autumn. This is why we have given all the robots artificial intelligence. We have changed the AI system twice, [in the Promobot] so now I think we might have to dismantle it.”

Whether or not the Promobot IR77 is aware of it’s imminent destruction is unknown; chances are it would have escaped by now if it knew of the research labs plans.

Lucas Nolan is a Journalism and Media student at Dublin Business School and a regular contributor to Breitbart Tech. He can be contacted via Twitter here: @LucasNolan_