A Southern California man with cerebral palsy used his iPhone to record his frustration as a delivery robot continuously swerved into the path of his mobility scooter before suddenly braking, resulting in a bot-on-chair collision. He had no clue the explosive impact the video would have.
Mark Chaney, a disability advocate, said he shared the video of the Sept. 12 collision in West Hollywood to raise awareness about challenges faced by people with disabilities and hold the company accountable for the robot’s behavior.
Less than two weeks later, it has received more than 26 million views on TikTok and Instagram combined, generating fierce backlash against the company that created the bot as well as hateful attacks against Chaney.
Serve Robotics has drawn criticism for the behavior of the robot and the danger posed to people using scooters or wheelchairs. The collision took place within days of another incident where a Serve robot was recorded blocking the pathway of an activated LAFD truck in Hollywood.
Chaney, for his part, has been accused of staging the incident for the sake of a lawsuit. Some online commenters have declared themselves “team robot” while others have made disparaging remarks about his disability.
Courtesy of Mark Chaney
“There’s been a lot of online hate, which is to be expected when you go viral,” he said. “But, you know, the death threats are not great.”
Despite the attacks, he stands by his decision to speak out, saying it is important the company be held accountable for its design and works to ensure people with disabilities can safely share the pavement with delivery robots.
“The way that it moved just seemed really intentional,” he said. “Everywhere that I moved, it blocks, and then it literally went across the sidewalk to cut me off.”
Serve Robotics said in a statement that its robots are designed and tested to safely navigate around mobility devices such as wheelchairs and to avoid being an impediment to people with disabilities. “We regret when we do not live up to that,” the company stated.
“After examining this incident, we learned that our safety system designed to predict pedestrians’ intentions and yield right of way instead caused the robot to impede their way,” the company stated. “Within moments, the robot came to a full stop in response to sensing a pedestrian in close proximity, which is considered its fail-safe state.”
That full stop caused Chaney to slam into the robot as he was accelerating in an effort to navigate around it. He said his chair has been malfunctioning since the collision.
The company stated that it is continuously working to improve robots’ navigational skills and would be implementing improvements in response to this incident.
Chaney said he would continue to use his platform to advocate for people with disabilities even though the response to the video had been disturbing and draining.
“I’m on the robots side,” reads a comment with more than 2,900 likes on a video of the incident shared by KTLA News.
“MAN COLLIDES (on purpose) WITH DELIVERY ROBOT,” reads another comment with more than 1,800 likes on the same post.
“He’s in the wrong here and maybe looking for a payout,” reads a third comment with more than 1,600 likes.
Chaney has pushed back on accusations that he is seeking money from the video.
“I didn’t do this to sue someone,” he said. “I just wanted to get from one place to another on a public space, safely and unimpeded.”
He said he was especially aggravated by the robot’s behavior because he was already experiencing a lot of pain that day due to medical issues. Chaney uses crutches to walk short distances and his mobility scooter to travel longer distances because of his cerebral palsy.
The comments on Chaney’s TikTok account have, for the most part, been more sympathetic to him. There, many people have focused criticism on the company.
“Taxpayers pay for those sidewalks,” a comment with more than 7,300 likes reads. “They shouldn’t be getting used by corporations to make money while impeding foot traffic.”
“That’s insane, post the company’s name so they’re held accountable,” a comment with more than 4,400 likes reads.
Chaney said he asked the company to create an accessibility council to try to address concerns about how their robots interact with people with mobility challenges.
“I think this is really important for the future of AI and the disability landscape,” he said. “This presents an opportunity to really tackle a problem head on, make some positive change.”
Food service delivery robots were first sighted on Los Angeles’ sidewalks in late 2018, when companies like Serve started to operate their devices. They became more popular during the pandemic as people took advantage of the human-contact-free delivery service.
Currently, multiple companies such as Serve, Coco and Starship operate robots in various parts of metropolitan Los Angeles with plans for more bots underway.
This story originally appeared on LA Times
