When artificially-intelligent robots began to first play chess, many analysts regarded it as a game-breaking innovation. But in Russia, you don’t break the game; the game breaks you. At least that was the case at the Moscow Open in July. According to local media, a seven-year-old boy named Christopher was playing against such a robot when it grabbed the boy’s finger, eventually breaking it.

Sergey Lazarev, president of the Moscow Chess Federation, acknowledged the incident in a comically understated fashion. Lazarev said, “The robot broke the child’s finger. This is of course bad.” Lazarev went on to explain that the robot had played several matches with other children without incident, and explained that the injury occurred because Christopher had probably forgotten to abide by one of the safety guidelines where players are supposed to let the robot finish its move before starting another move in response.

According to Lazarev, Christopher was not overly traumatized from the injury. He said, “The child played the very next day and finished the tournament.”

A federation official was quick to affirm that such injuries are rare and that the robot is still safe to engage. “There are certain safety rules and the child, apparently, violated them. This is an extremely rare case, the first I can recall. ... Apparently, children need to be warned. It happens.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

Sometimes technology that seems harmless can contain hidden dangers. We should be careful in how we make consumer decisions, particularly when deploying technology around our loved ones.