Words: Caitlin Bratby (she/her)
The usage of robots and AI has significantly increased in the past decade, developing from Siri, to ChatGPT, to AI-powered robots, which are currently being used in customer service, security, and vacuuming. As our technology has improved and AI-powered robots have integrated themselves deeper into our lives, our everyday interactions with them have also grown exponentially.
There has been recent controversy emerging over a video of Kai Cenat, an American online streamer, pushing around and kicking a $70,000 robot – which he has named Abdul – which has sparked discussion surrounding the treatment of AI and robots. In response to the negative attention that his video was getting, Cenat has publicly argued that there should be no issue with him abusing the robot that he paid for, comparing it to a phone or his washing machine, and questions why we are expected to demonstrate compassion towards something that has no emotion.
Firstly, we must consider what separates humans and robots. Obviously, there is the lack of human emotion, experiences, relationships, and consciousness. However, more recent robotic designs are attempting to close that gap between machine and humanity, as AI-powered robots are mimicking emotions and mannerisms, being friendly towards humans, and building relationships as if they were another human themselves. Even in Cenat’s video, the robot is named and wears a T-shirt, as if to hide its robotic identity, instead presenting it as human. This begs the question: why would you try to make them more human-like, while still viewing robots as inferior and as something to abuse for a joke?
As I was watching the video of Cenat kicking the robot, I noticed that the robot’s size was roughly equal to a child. Do you think that if the robot was the same size or bigger than Cenat and his pals, they would have laughed while pushing it and watching it struggle for balance? Would they have posted the video if it was something that could have fought back, instead of being physically incapable of doing anything except taking the hits?
Companion, a 2025 movie starring Sophie Thatcher and Jack Quaid, has also prompted discussion concerning the treatment of robots as Thatcher plays an android built for human companionship. Companion seems to use humanoid features in the construction of its androids, suggesting that these are needed in order for us to feel empathy for something nonhuman. The movie’s depiction and Thatcher’s representation of AI as initially being a submissive entity reinforces a master-servant relationship where humans, particularly men, seek to dominate something with less agency than themselves. This reflects the hypermasculine desire for power, ownership, and even violence when male dominance is challenged.
In a world where the patriarchy is being slowly challenged, it is becoming increasingly difficult for men to exert their control over others as easily as they once might have. The themes that this film explores could be linked to Cenat’s treatment of the robot, as its subject questions the ethics of control over AI and perceived weaker beings. Should we be afraid of those trying to use their money, time, and platforms to abuse a being with less agency?
It is my personal belief that compassion and sympathy should not be reserved solely for other humans – we have the capacity to care and we should use that, no matter what the object of the care is. We show kindness for plenty of other nonhuman things, such as plants, animals, and material objects, so why should robots be any different?
The treatment of robots, whether it be Cenat’s abuse or Jack Quaid’s character’s manipulation, demonstrates more about the person than anything else. When they are faced with something with less power than themselves, their response is to exploit that for their own amusement or personal gain. Kindness is free and should be given out as such. However, cruelty also happens to be free and, unfortunately, many people seem to choose cruelty over compassion when they believe that it will have no repercussions.
At the end of the day it boils down to one question: what kind of person do you want to be? Someone who takes advantage of powerless beings or someone else? Someone better? The choice lies in the hands of humans and whether they decide to respect or ruin their nonhuman counterparts
