Robot Lovers Say ‘Stop the Abuse!’

It’s definitely not easy being Atlas, the humanoid robot.

On Tuesday, Google’s (GOOG) Boston Dynamics unit released a video showing off the robot’s ability to balance itself and keep going, even after being pushed around by some guy with a hockey stick. And it caused quite a stir on social media.

Here’s a sample of the tweets decrying the bullying of poor Atlas:

https://twitter.com/darth/status/702531956588687362

Happy bully awareness day 2016. Https://t.co/47zAUjuEXf #PinkShirtDay #Atlas #Robot #BostonDynamics

— Jon Galloway (@jon_galloway) February 24, 2016

Am i the only one feeling sad watching a robot being abused? Stop hitting that poor thing! 😓#AtlasRobot

— Ayca Kuzuimamlar (@aycakuzuimamlar) February 24, 2016

Then of course, there was the inevitable “robot overlord” meme:

Meet the latest model of soon-to-be killer robot Atlas: https://t.co/L9pkgXinbW pic.twitter.com/bCI2T5pt3t

— Daily Dot Debug (@dotdebug) February 24, 2016

Hello, new robot overlord…Remember, we're friends? Https://t.co/9Fg3k8onWZ

— Casey Sutherland (@caseysutherland) February 24, 2016

Some people found that overused trope annoying:

Blah blah blah Next Gen Robot Overlord blah blah blah… => Atlas, The Next Generation https://t.co/JJSOUjuLRz

— Shaun Heath (@shaunheath) February 24, 2016

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But, as tough as it was for some to watch Atlas take its licks, others were more concerned about how the balance of human/machine power may shift going forward. (Hint: They don’t think it will go in our favor, so now is the time to start being nice.)

Https://twitter.com/MarcosHernndezA/status/702565393194332160

The Reddit discussion thread on the topic was equally entertaining:

Comment
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My personal favorite however, was this somewhat related tweet:

After years of research & millions of dollars, engineers can accurately replicate two drunk people carrying a sofa pic.twitter.com/2NMD78cdEL

— HighTechPanda (@HighTechPanda) February 18, 2016

Anyone who saw Ex Machina, or listened to smart people including Bill Gates and Elon Musk talk about the potential dangers of artificial intelligence, won’t sneeze at the idea robots outlasting any need for humans. So why tempt fate?