{"id":3401,"date":"2026-07-31T12:40:02","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T12:40:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=3401"},"modified":"2026-07-31T12:40:02","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T12:40:02","slug":"hitchbot-was-decapitated-on-this-week-in-philly-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=3401","title":{"rendered":"hitchBOT was decapitated on this week in Philly history"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<div><audio><\/audio><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The robot was no match for Philadelphia.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>The child-sized figure with robot-like qualities was the brainchild of Canadian researchers in the mid-2010s.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=3399\">\ud83d\ude33 Spotted | Outdoorsy Newsletter<\/a><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>The goal was to try and better understand human-robot relationships, and to generally gauge how humans would interact with robots.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>He was carried across the Northeast by the kindness of strangers who were kept up to date through social media posts.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Nicknamed hitchBOT, the oddity developed quite a following, moving through Netherlands, Germany, andCanada.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>When he hit the United States, he crossed through the northeastern part of the country over a two-week span.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>And he was making \u2014 and having \u2014 a good time. He took in a Boston Red Sox game, visited an aquarium, and was gleefully photographed in Times Square in New York.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=3397\">Many of Trump\u2019s predecessors also trafficked in rumor mongering and demonized their opponents<\/a><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>And then he arrived in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>hitchBOT\u2019s creators said their baby had been mugged while taking a break at Elfreth\u2019s Alley on Aug. 1, 2015, and stripped for parts.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>They said he had been horrifically decapitated.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>The creators later quipped, \u201csometimes bad things happen to good robots.\u201d<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>In 2015, Laura Blankenship, cochair of the Computer Science Teachers Association, wrote a post about the lessons from the experiment.She remarked that the creators got an answer to their existential question:<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cHumans might treat robots just like humans,\u201d Blankenship wrote.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>hitchBOT became fodder for late-night talk shows, gossip websites, and ammunition for the usual folks who enjoy taking cheap shots atPhiladelphia and its inhabitants.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>The New York papers ate it up, as did CNN.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cThis is why we can\u2019t have nice hitchhiking robots,\u201d CNN wrote.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>As far as Philadelphia\u2019s role in the episode, the city still holds a special place in its heart for the headless kind-hunter. On the 10th anniversary, a memorial service and a remembrance were held at the famous alley where hitchBOT met his end.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Today, hitchBOT\u2019s body is on display at the Heinz Nixdorf Museums Forum in Paderborn, Germany. <\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=3395\">\ud83d\udeb2 An e-bike policy reversal | Inquirer South Jersey<\/a><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>The head was never recovered.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The robot met his end in Elfreth&#8217;s Alley on Aug. 1, 2015.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3400,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>hitchBOT was decapitated on this week in Philly history - 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