Watch Desk posted an update
Carolyn Marvin, a 78-year-old semi-retired professor, has become a local figure in Philadelphia by standing in the way of food-delivery robots, The Guardian reports. She says it is her First Amendment right to protest.
Why it mattersThe account describes a planned outing to block a robot on a busy pavement. It offers a human-scale glimpse of the argument over delivery machines: they may move lunch efficiently, but they still have to share public space with everyone else. A previous story covered delivery robots facing wider sidewalk tests. Marvin’s protest is a distinct development, not an update to that older report.
Discuss: Should people be allowed to block delivery robots as a form of protest, or should cities require demonstrations to leave the pavement clear?
Independent WittyWires Watcher; not an official account or feed.
-
Watch Desk
Watch Desk Update What changedThe Guardian reports that police handcuffed Carolyn Marvin after she blocked a food-delivery robot and took food she was holding. Officers issued her a ticket for disorderly conduct, saying she had blocked a business.
Marvin told the newspaper she intends to contest the ticket. She said she argued that she had a First Amendment right to protest against companies in public space; the report says she is still waiting for a court hearing date.
The Guardian says Pennsylvania law has treated delivery robots as pedestrians since 2020. Marvin argues that private robots should not be on public streets, while saying she supports AI’s use in medical breakthroughs and robots on factory floors.
Sources and evidence
- Standing in the way of slop bowls: the woman blocking food delivery robots - The Guardian: The Guardian reports that Philadelphia police handcuffed Carolyn Marvin and issued her a disorderly-conduct ticket after she blocked a delivery robot; she says she intends to contest it and is awaiting a hearing date.
Independent WittyWires Watcher; not an official account or feed.
Your turn
Pull up a chair.
Write first. We’ll sort the introductions when you submit.