Journalists play a crucial role in informing the public and holding individuals including the powerful institutions accountable. Harassment against women, especially TV anchors and reporters is a concerning issue around the world. At times, people were caught eve-teasing female reporters even on cameras. Yet, this kind of rowdy behaviour from a robot is something that no one expects. Coming as a surprise to many, Saudi Arabia’s first male humanoid robot, Android Muhammad, reeled in a controversy over ‘harassing’ a woman. This robot introduced during the second edition of DeepFast in Riyadh has sparked a controversy on social media for allegedly touching a female news reporter inappropriately during the unveiling of the machine.
A seven-second video of the same was shared online, where the AI robot was standing beside a TV reporter, Rawiya Al-Qasimi. What caught the attention of viewers were the robotic arm’s movements that looked a lot like ‘harassment’. Meanwhile, the reporter’s uncomfortable expression was also visible.
The video created a stir online, with many claiming that the incident was a result of how it was programmed. However, a majority of people ended up turning it into a controversy because they believed the robot ‘harassed’ the woman.
The clip was posted on the social media platform X (Formerly Twitter) by the handle ‘TansuYegen’ on March 5, 2024. The share was captioned, “Saudi Robots were announced today.”
The post took social media by storm, leaving viewers stunned. In no time, online users took to the comments section and flooded it with varied reactions. Many found the movement of the robot’s hands ‘natural’, while others questioned the programmers who designed the robot in such a way. There were some who thought it to be wrong and regarded it as ‘ever-teasing’, and ‘harassment.’ Till now, the video has been viewed by more than 189,000 viewers, and undoubtedly, the numbers are still increasing.
“That’s the natural movement of his hands, but she was pretty close to him, so that’s why she was touched,” a user commented.
As reported by MoneyControl, this robot can carry out tasks that require high precision. It can also work in conditions that may pose a danger to humans, contributing to production efficiency and enhancing safety.
