A 78-year-old retired professor in Philadelphia has vowed to continue protesting delivery robots after she was arrested for repeatedly standing in their way, arguing that her actions were an exercise of free speech and a protest against technology taking over public spaces.
asserted
technology → vow → spaces
Carolyn Marvin, a retired communications professor at the University of Pennsylvania, said blocking autonomous delivery robots had become a habit since the small, wheeled machines began operating on Philadelphia’s streets and sidewalks.
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machines → say → streets
October 14 was not the first time Marvin had placed herself in front of one of the robots.
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Marvin → place → robots
She would stop them for a few minutes as they travelled along the sidewalk carrying food orders.
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they → stop → orders
“I was under the impression that I had more rights than the robot did,” Marvin said, laughing.
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Marvin → do → rights
However, the October 14 incident ended with her arrest.
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incident → end → arrest
Marvin said she had been returning home after getting a flu shot when she encountered a delivery robot.
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she → say → robot
She had a jar of enchilada sauce in one hand and chicken biryani takeout in the other when she stood in front of the machine, as she had done on previous occasions.
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she → have → occasions
The incident took place in a busy part of the city, and a larger-than-usual crowd gathered.
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crowd → take → city
Some people supported her, while others criticized her.
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others → support → her
Marvin suspects someone in the crowd eventually called the police.
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someone → suspect → police
Officers handcuffed her, put her in a police vehicle and issued her a citation for disorderly conduct.
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Officers → handcuff → conduct
Philadelphia police said they had responded to a report of “criminal mischief involving a delivery robot”.
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they → say → robot
When officers arrived, they found a woman “who was refusing to allow a delivery robot to pass”, according to an email from the police department.
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robot → arrive → department
Officers issued multiple commands asking her to move, but she refused to comply.
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she → issue → her
Marvin said she never expected to be arrested because she believed she was not obstructing another person.
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she → say → person
“I wasn’t impeding any persons.
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I → impede → persons
I was impeding a machine,” she said.
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she → impede → machine
She described her actions as a symbolic protest against the problems associated with delivery robots, including the displacement of low-income delivery workers, the physical risks the machines could pose to people using sidewalks and privacy concerns arising from their built-in cameras.
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machines → describe → cameras
“I also think that I have a First Amendment right to protest the abuses of corporations in public space, in the same public space that the robots are occupying,” she said.
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she → think → that
Marvin said she had previously taken part in protests supporting civil rights and abortion rights, supporting Black Lives Matter and opposing the Gulf and Vietnam wars.
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she → say → wars
She sees her campaign against delivery robots as an extension of the same impulse to make the government hear public concerns.
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government → see → concerns
She said blocking the machines had also led to conversations with passersby who wanted to know what she was doing.
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she → say → what
Marvin said her protest had a limited impact on customers, with an office worker’s lunch potentially delayed by around 15 minutes at most.
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lunch → say → minutes
She added that she did not have unlimited time to spend blocking robots and would do so for 10 or 15 minutes when it was “convenient and possible”.
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it → add → minutes
A friend summed up her arrest by telling her: “Well, you got a disorderly conduct charge for impeding capitalism.”
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you → sum → capitalism
Why delivery robots have legal protection
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robots → have → protection
Following her arrest, Marvin learnt more about the legal framework governing autonomous delivery devices in Pennsylvania.
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Marvin → follow → Pennsylvania
In 2020, the state legislature passed a law classifying autonomous delivery robots, described in the legislation as “personal delivery devices”, as pedestrians rather than vehicles.
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legislature → pass → vehicles
The legislation was largely opposed by Democrats, labour unions and accessibility advocates, who argued that allowing delivery robots could threaten jobs and put children and pedestrians at risk.
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allowing → oppose → risk
Republicans supported the measure, describing it as an exciting technological development.
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Republicans → support → development
The law requires vehicles to yield to delivery robots at crosswalks, just as they would to pedestrians, said John Mattiacci, a Philadelphia personal injury attorney.
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Mattiacci → require → pedestrians
However, the machines are also required to give way to people and cyclists in pedestrian areas.
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machines → require → areas
“Personal delivery devices must yield to other pedestrians and pedalcyclists in a pedestrian area,” Mattiacci said.
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Mattiacci → yield → area
Uber Eats launched its autonomous delivery robot fleet in Philadelphia in March, making the city the fourth in which the company offered robot deliveries.
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company → launch → deliveries
The machines have not been welcomed by everyone.
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machines → welcome → everyone
Videos from Philadelphia and other places have shown people sitting on, kicking and vandalising delivery robots.
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people → show → robots
Uber Eats did not respond to a request for comment.
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Eats → respond → comment
Marvin sees the growing presence of delivery robots as part of a wider trend in which technology and machines are increasingly occupying everyday spaces.
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technology → see → spaces
“There’s a way in which we’ve surrendered the streets to cars long ago, and I don’t think we should surrender the sidewalks to machines,” she said.
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she → ’ → machines
…and 6 more, not listed.
The Aporia
