A woman in Philadelphia was arrested after she stood in front of an Uber delivery robot and refused to let it move along the sidewalk. Police charged Carolyn Marvin with disorderly conduct when she would not step out of the machine's path.
Marvin said she blocked the robot to protect human workers. She told local television station ABC13 that delivery robots take jobs away from people, and she has been protesting them whenever she sees them by standing in their way. When police officers arrived and asked her to move, she refused, and the officers placed her in handcuffs.
Small delivery robots have become a common sight on the streets of downtown Philadelphia, but they have also caused growing anger among residents. This was not Marvin's first encounter with the machines, and earlier this year, another robot was kicked over in the city's Center City area.
The sidewalk incident shows rising public concern about automation. People are worried about how autonomous technologies, including delivery robots, robotaxis, and artificial intelligence programs, are threatening jobs, especially for lower-skill workers.