Introduction

HitchBOT was an experiment in stewardship: A small, rudimentary robot unable to move on its own, depending on the kindness of passersby to help it along its journey. Until it met an untimely end. Trust is a two-way street, and because robots are not powered by their own moral code, they rely on humans to supply both empathy and support. 

Dr. Frauke Zeller shares HitchBOT’s origin story. Eli Schwartz recounts his heartbreak upon learning what happened in Philadelphia. Dr. Julie Carpenter analyzes why it all went down. And Georgia Guthrie epitomizes the outpouring of sympathy that followed. Together, they tell a layered story about humans, and how we respond to robots. With HitchBOT, we find a little hope in the shadow of its demise.

If you want to read up on some of our research on robot-human interaction, you can check our all our bonus material over at redhat.com/commandlineheroes. Follow along with the episode transcript.