Rise of the killer AI machines.

Uber Bot Murders Arizona Woman in Street:

Uber Technologies Inc. halted autonomous vehicle tests after one of its cars struck and killed a woman in Tempe, Arizona, in what is likely the first pedestrian fatality involving the technology.

The 49-year-old woman, Elaine Herzberg, was crossing the road outside of a crosswalk when the Uber vehicle operating in autonomous mode under the supervision of a human safety driver struck her, according to the Tempe Police Department.

After the incident, which happened at 10 p.m. local time on Sunday, she was transferred to a nearby hospital, where she died from her injuries. “Uber is assisting and this is still an active investigation,” Liliana Duran, a Tempe police spokeswoman, said in an emailed statement.

Translation: The woman was crossing the street, constructively in a crosswalk. The murderous Uber Bot decided to terminate her by inflicting mass trauma. HAL overrode the human safety driver and proceeded at full speed. The woman died as a result of the attack. Robots: 1, Humans, 0.

First they crushed the feet of tiny toddlers. Then the shoved their way through doors. Now they’re running people down in the streets. The little exploding insect-bomb bots will visit the mall tomorrow.

It’s war.

*Critical Note: A knee-jerk reaction would be to call for a legal ban on robots. As nice as that sounds in theory we have to consider the nature of the slimy beasts who purvey legislation. They might sell it as a ban for the safety of the human race; rest assured it would do the opposite – creating a virtual open season on us. (Probably with a hidden tax increase too).

Uber comes calling. YouTube/Orion.