A group of robots was sighted outside a Polish ministry as part of a campaign for tougher regulation of artificial intelligence and robotization.
A group of around 30 robots, comprising bipedal humanoids and four-legged, dog-like robots, appeared outside the Digital Affairs Ministry in Warsaw, Poland. They moved around in formation, carrying flags, and chanting slogans.
The protest was organized by Democratism, a newly established Polish initiative set up with the aim of provoking debate on how AI and robotization will affect the labor market.
An Agibot A3 humanoid robot answered journalists’ questions #
As per Euronews, the robots chanted “Defend workplaces!”, “Time for rules!”, and “Don’t wait, regulate!”. One of the robots, an Agibot A3, a humanoid robot powered by by AI was on the scene to answer questions from journalists.
“The robots present here are meant to show that this technology is already a reality,” it said, on behalf of Democratism. Grzegorz Kuliś, one of the human organizers said that “if we don’t react now, we may soon have a problem,” demanding more “rules and regulations that would serve as a shield protecting workers”.
Kuliś, who serves as both chief information officer of a robotics company and chief executive of an employment agency, intended the protest as a clever way to give those in decision-making positions a direct way to see how quickly technology is developing.
Kuliś and the robots were met onsite by Poland’s Digital Affairs Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski. According to Euronews, Gawkowski told the gathered protesters that Poland is the first country in the EU to introduce oversight of the AI market.
He also reportedly announced plans to set up a Commission for the Development and Security of Artificial Intelligence, and regulatory sandboxes that would allow for companies to test AI solutions before beginning wider rollouts.
For more on AI, check out our coverage of the Anthropic lead who claims AI has more than a 10% chance of killing all humans within a decade, or OpenAI’s plans for a ‘kill switch’ after an AI escaped testing.