Knoxville has delayed the robot takeover for six months.
That is, the Knoxville City Council voted Oct. 31 to enact an emergency moratorium on personal delivery robots. The ordinance, which passed unanimously, will keep companies from deploying the autonomous robots on city streets and sidewalks for six months to buy time for city officials to develop a policy.
Downtown reporter Ryan Wilusz is joined by growth and development reporter Daniel Dassow, who specializes in technology and who experienced these robots firsthand on the University of Tennessee at Knoxville campus as a student.
The two discuss whether downtown could benefit from this technology, what the city should consider before allowing robots on city streets and how they could impact Knoxville's identity.
FULL STORY >> Robots deliver food at the University of Tennessee. They're banned – for now – off campus
"The Scruffy Stuff" is presented by Knox News. Want more downtown analysis? Sign up for the free weekly Urban Knoxville newsletter by clicking here, and join the downtown discussion by becoming part of the Urban Knoxville group on Facebook.
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