A chess tournament took place in Moscow, wherein a 7-year-old boy’s finger was fractured by a chess-playing robot. The boy tried to make a swift move without giving sufficient time to the device to complete its task and this led to the unfortunate incident. This incident happened on July 19 at the Moscow Chess Open competition.
Sergey Smagin – The Russian Chess Federation’s Vice President, spoke to state-run news agency RIA Novosti stating that the boy was doing well, however, one of his fingers was broken. The boy’s name was Christopher and was one of the thirty finest chess players in Moscow in the under-nines category.
As per reports, the robot did not comprehend the boy’s hastiness and grabbed his index finger and squeezed it tightly. The onlookers rushed to the boy’s aid and his finger was pulled out, yet the fracture couldn’t be averted.
The incident was caught on camera and had become viral. The footage reveals the boy briefly held by the robot’s grasp before a woman came to his rescue. Finally, three guys stepped in and rescued the boy’s finger from the robot’s grasp.
All acquisition that advanced AI will destroy humanity is false. Not the powerful AI or breaching laws of robotics will destroy humanity, but engineers with both left hands :/
On video – a chess robot breaks a kid's finger at Moscow Chess Open today. pic.twitter.com/bIGIbHztar
— Pavel Osadchuk 👨💻💤 (@xakpc) July 21, 2022
A plaster was cast on the boy’s finger to heal faster. According to Sergey Lazarev – Moscow Chess Federation’s President, the boy did not appear overly traumatized by the incident. He played immediately on the next day, completed the tournament, and volunteers assisted in recording the moves.
However, his parents are said to have contacted the office of the public prosecutor. We’ll communicate, figure it out, and do everything we can to help, he said. According to Smagin, the incident was purely coincidental, and the robot was completely safe.
Vice President Smagin stated that there were safety rules to be followed, and the boy had violated them. When the boy made his move, he was not aware that he should wait. This was the first case that he was ever aware of and an extremely rare one too.
Sergey Karjakin, a Russian grandmaster, said the incident was undoubtedly the result of “some kind of software error or something,” adding, “This has never happened before.” Such incidents occur. “I wish the boy good health.”
Human error, or a lack of human understanding of robotic processes, is the most common cause. Even if they’re just playing chess, it pays to be cautious around robots.
