Arwa Mahdawi with visuals by Kriston Jae Bethel, The Guardian; Standing in the way of slop bowls: the woman blocking food delivery robots
"The semi-retired University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) communications professor has become something of a local celebrity after taking it upon herself to block the UberEats food delivery robots which have become a ubiquitous presence in the city’s downtown. She doesn’t do this every day – “I have a life” – but whenever a robot crosses her path she’ll stare it down as a protest against their incursion into public spaces.
Her antics have gone viral: so much so that some Philadelphians dressed upas Marvin and the robot for Halloween. But while she may have supporters, her protesting isn’t universally admired: a few weeks ago it got her in trouble with the law...
Halloween graphics on the screen that operates as its “face” and another has little zzz on it, indicating that it’s sleeping. I’ve got to admit, they look cute. And, of course, that’s by design. “Humanizing the robots is important, because they are a completely new entity,” a spokesperson for Avride told me when I called them for an interview a couple of days earlier. “We want people to feel comfortable around the robots and not to feel scared about some weird box travelling down the sidewalk.”"
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