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PROFILE AMERICA
July 21, 2008
Science
fiction turned into bizarre truth on this day 24 years ago in the
first known instance in the U.S. of a robot killing a human
being.
The accident occurred at a Jackson, Michigan, plant when an
automated piece of machinery turned and crushed a 34-year-old
worker against a safety bar. He died five days later.
The accident proved that in reality, there is no such thing as
“law zero,” as featured in Isaac Asimov’s landmark
novel, “I Robot” the law forbids robots from injuring
human beings.
Sometimes called “flexible manufacturing equipment,”
robots are part of the more than $253 billion worth of
manufacturing machinery sold each year in the U.S.
You can find these and more facts about America from the U.S.
Census Bureau online at www.census.gov.
