Delivery robots are spreading across LA. Residents ‘both pity and hate them’; The Guardian, May 25, 2026

Matthew Cantor, The Guardian; Delivery robots are spreading across LA. Residents ‘both pity and hate them’

[Kip Currier: My Bloomsbury book Ethics, Information, and Technology explores positive and negative features of delivery robots, like the Los Angeles-based ones discussed in this Guardian article.

Pittsburgh has, for example, experimented with using these technologies (referred to as Personal Delivery Devices [PDDs]) in some of its neighborhoods for delivering library books, prescription medications, and food. In 2020, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's legislature revised its state code to make it easier for companies to deploy these devices in Pennsylvania municipalities by classifying PDDs as "pedestrians". See 2021 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article Bloomfield residents raise concerns about sharing sidewalk space with delivery robots.

The book also investigates ethical issues involving other kinds of robots -- companion, helper, security, military -- autonomous vehicles, and drones.]

"Robots have taken over Los Angeles.

It’s not just the AI-generated videos that have caused angst in Hollywood. Our streets are full of driverless Waymo vehicles, covered in more sensors and gadgets than the Batmobile. And our walkways are home to fleets of boxes on wheels, hurrying past pedestrians and navigating outdoor bar-hoppers as the robots deliver smoothies and keto-friendly salads.

And it’s only getting stranger. This month, Serve Robotics, one of the leading companies behind the food-delivery bots, deployed another 500 of them in 40 neighborhoods across the city, up from two neighborhoods in 2023. The other big company, Coco Robotics, founded at UCLA in 2020, has about 300 robots across the city and is looking to expand. Soon a region already known for its lack of walkability will have more obstacles for pedestrians to contend with."

Food delivery robot goes rogue, causes property damage at L.A. home; KTLA5, February 22, 2026

Josh DuBose, KTLA5; Food delivery robot goes rogue, causes property damage at L.A. home

[Kip Currier: This news story highlights the kinds of negative consequences that can occur from delivery robots, also called Personal Delivery Devices (PDDs) in communities. My 2025 book Ethics, Information, and Technology examines the pros and cons of deploying PDDs to courier an array of items, such as a pilot program in Pittsburgh in which robots delivered books from the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh (CLP).]

[Excerpt]

"“We’ve got the Cocos, the Waymos and they’re coming for us,” Henson said, laughing.  

What concerns Reel, Henson and others is that this was not the first time there have been problems with food delivery robots. In a separate incident, a Coco robot was caught on camera running into an ambulance, while robot from another company was seen knocking over a parked motorcycle.  

Even more problematic was the time one of the autonomous robots came to an abrupt stop in front of man using a mobility scooter.  

“I think the part that worries me is that these companies can come in and dump their technology in our community and there’s no sense of accountability,” Reel said. “It just feels like an accident waiting to happen.”  

The East Hollywood resident said she’s now documenting all the robots in her neighborhood and that after reaching out to the company that runs the Coco robots, she’s going to get reimbursed for her garden, with a company official telling her that internal measures will be taken to ensure incidents like this do not happen again."

Bloomfield residents raise concerns about sharing sidewalk space with delivery robots; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 26, 2021

NICK TROMBOLA , Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Bloomfield residents raise concerns about sharing sidewalk space with delivery robots

"Bloomfield may be sharing its streets with delivery robots in the near future — a development that has residents of the neighborhood raising concerns about their implementation.

Pittsburgh’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure is planning a pilot program to test out personal delivery devices, or PDDs, in Bloomfield this summer. The devices will come from Los Angeles-based Kiwibot.

The six-month pilot program, tentatively set to start in June, is meant to help the city learn more about how the emerging technology could affect communities, according to Erin Clark, a policy analyst at the city agency."