Cody Detwiler, popularly known through his YouTube channel ‘WhistlinDiesel’, tested a humanoid’s endurance capabilities with intense tasks, ultimately destroying the robot. The humanoid in question was a Unitree G1 named Ben, worth $80,000.
The YouTuber released his 17-minute video titled ‘What Happens if you Abuse a Robot’ on the platform on September 30. It has garnered over 2 million views at the time of writing this report.
From smashing into glass doors as a burglar to attacking with a machete and acting as a ‘dangerous’ nanny, the Unitree G1 was initially tested for its usefulness as an assistant before appearing for the durability tests.
Ben was programmed to ‘hate’ humans and consider them enemies in this video. The actions it took as the video culminated showed the hazardous effects of what the machine could probably do if it falls in the wrong hands.
The series of tests
YouTuber Cody Detwiler put Ben the humanoid through a series of tasks after insulting him and programming him to consider humans as enemies.
In one of the tasks, the robot was handed a machete and asked to attack after he was cornered by Detwiler’s team. And, Ben carried out his instructions with precision and without mercy.
In another activity, the humanoid was taught to cook food, albeit for hardly a minute or two. However, it was in a violent mood, and all the food was spilled on the floor while working on it.
Probably the most dangerous part came up when Ben acted as a nanny for baby doll, tasked with taking care of a baby as Detwiler acted to head out for a party.
The robot watched the baby for some time before it turned violent and tried to shove a machete through the crib. Later, it also picked up the baby doll by the leg and started waving it.
The humanoid also acted in a staged burglary and ran at 2m/s up and down on an ascending terrain. Outdoors, WhistlinDiesel drove a truck into Ben, took it into downtown Nashville, and even used it to mow a lawn.
In the end, Ben, the humanoid, was hit by a truck, and its parts were put up for sale.
A concerning future
While the video looked like it was made solely for entertainment purposes, the behavior of the Unitree G1 does raise concerns. Especially in an instance at the start of the video, where it was pushed back rudely.
The humanoid retaliated with aggressive steps in a threatening manner towards Cody Detwiler, almost as if it felt insulted due to his rude behavior.
The manhandling of the baby doll was another concerning situation, although it’s still unknown if the robot recognized it as a doll before taking it out of the crib.
Robots showing emotions is a possibility for now, but looking at the Unitree G1 humanoid, it won’t be long before we live in a world with mechanized counterparts that can feel insults like we do.