If Marvin sounds like she\u2019s done this before, it\u2019s because she has. Many, many times. The semi-retired University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) communications professor has become something of a local celebrity after taking it upon herself to block the UberEats food delivery robots which have become a ubiquitous presence in the city\u2019s downtown. She doesn\u2019t do this every day \u2013 \u201cI have a life\u201d \u2013 but whenever a robot crosses her path she\u2019ll stare it down as a protest against their incursion into public spaces.<\/p>\n
Her antics have gone viral: so much so that some Philadelphians dressed up<\/a> as Marvin and the robot for Halloween. But while she may have supporters, her protesting isn\u2019t universally admired: a few weeks ago it got her in trouble with the law<\/a>.<\/p>\n Carolyn Marvin blocks a robot. <\/p>\n \u201cI was coming back from my flu shot and I saw a robot,\u201d she recounts. \u201cSince I had some time, I stayed in front of it as it was a very highly trafficked area.\u201d A crowd amassed and a spirited debate occurred. Some people agreed with Marvin\u2019s argument that, along with taking people\u2019s jobs, the delivery robots pose a hazard to people with mobility issues. Others were concerned that she was stopping someone from getting the food they\u2019d ordered and paid for. Eventually the cops were called about \u201ccriminal mischief\u201d involving a delivery robot and three officers showed up.<\/p>\n \u201cThey asked me to move and I said \u2018no, it\u2019s my first amendment to protest against corporations in the same public space the robots are occupying.\u2019 So I don\u2019t see any reason to stop that.\u201d The police officers, presumably a bit befuddled by the small but serious professor, who was dressed in her trademark blue visor, continued to try to get her to move along. Marvin just kept staring at the robot.<\/p>\n \u201cSo then they came up from behind me, took the food I was holding out of my hands, handcuffed me and hustled me over to a police car,\u201d says Marvin. \u201cI tried to make it hard for them but there were three of them and one of me. But I kept arguing with them. I think they weren\u2019t sure what they could arrest me for because it\u2019s all brand new stuff. And they hesitated a long time because I think the first amendment argument probably made some sense to them.\u201d<\/p>\n The police ended up writing Marvin a ticket for disorderly conduct<\/a>, with the rationale that she was blocking a business. She is still waiting for her court hearing date, but intends to contest the charges vigorously. \u201cThe wheels of justice grind slow, but I\u2019ll go make my arguments,\u201d she says. And one imagines these arguments will be convincing. Marvin has written a celebrated book<\/a>, When Old Technologies Were New: Thinking About Electric Communication in the Late Nineteenth Century, about the social impact of electronic media. She is a formidable thinker who, in 1985, became the first woman<\/a> to receive tenure at UPenn\u2019s Annenberg School and now has an endowed chair named after at the Ivy League university.<\/p>\n *<\/p>\n A pending court date has not slowed Marvin down. Which is why she agreed to allow me to shadow her today, while she goes about her robot-disrupting business. I\u2019ve picked our rendezvous spot because I\u2019ve noticed that a number of the delivery machines congregate here while waiting for orders. We can trail them the moment they set off on their mission.<\/p>\n It\u2019s unclear exactly how many food delivery robots there are in Philadelphia. Avride<\/a>, the Texas-based company behind the machines, would only tell me that the number fluctuates according to demand. But there are only two in the alley when we arrive around brunch time. One of them is flashing Halloween graphics on the screen that operates as its \u201cface\u201d and another has little zzz on it, indicating that it\u2019s sleeping. I\u2019ve got to admit, they look cute. And, of course, that\u2019s by design. \u201cHumanizing the robots is important, because they are a completely new entity,\u201d a spokesperson for Avride<\/a> told me when I called them for an interview a couple of days earlier. \u201cWe want people to feel comfortable around the robots and not to feel scared about some weird box travelling down the sidewalk.\u201d<\/p>\n The humanization didn\u2019t fool Marvin, but it seems to have worked on other people. Avride, which operates almost 1,000 food delivery machines on more than 25 different college campuses and a growing number of urban locations including Jersey City and Austin, says it used to get concerned emails from people who\u2019d see a robot in hibernation mode and assume it was lost or broken. Avride then added the zzz visuals to communicate the robot was waiting for an order, and now the emails have stopped. I ask the Avride spokespeople if they have they heard about Carolyn Marvin? There is a little pause. \u201cWe are all well aware of this lady, yes.\u201d<\/p>\n As we wait for the robots to get moving, I start to wonder if the professor\u2019s notoriety might have prompted Avride to install Marvin-mode software which disables the machines if they detect her presence. We\u2019ve been hanging around for about 40 minutes and nothing is happening. Eventually, I hear a beeping noise and one of the robots whirs into an action. Someone had put an order in and robot 1617 was going from its holding pen to a nearby restaurant to pick up the food and deliver it.<\/p>\n While it may be equipped with all sorts of sophisticated cameras, sensors, and AI-powered software, the poor robot didn\u2019t have the instincts to realize its mission was about to be thwarted. We chase it down the alley and, as soon as 1617 turns on to Walnut Street, a main thoroughfare, Marvin blocks its pathway and stares it down.<\/p>\n For the first few minutes people politely ignore the professor-robot standoff, although I do notice one woman rolling her eyes as she passes. But then the compliments and questions start rolling in. One elderly woman thanks Marvin profusely. A middle-aged man dressed in a nice suit cheers her on and says \u201csomeone\u2019s got to do it!\u201d Another man says he appreciates the efforts and \u201cthe gig economy sucks for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n Carolyn Marvin speaks with passers-by.<\/p>\n \u201cOMG,\u201d a young passerby called Cadence says as she recognizes Marvin and her trademark blue visor. \u201cIt\u2019s the queen! I feel like I met a celebrity!\u201d Cadence, a 22-year-old recent graduate, is on board with the professor\u2019s protest. \u201cAI and robotics are supposed to make life easier for us and help us do the things we enjoy, not take the jobs of other people,\u201d she effuses. \u201cI will support any small business that doesn\u2019t use AI. I appreciate what is made by humans.\u201d<\/p>\n Passing kids, meanwhile, seem less concerned about the gig economy, and more interested in the robots\u2019 cute faces. Every toddler who goes by points at them with delight. A couple of kids who pass have a heated discussion about whether the robot looks like a dog or a cat. (It looks like neither.) The only child we come across who isn\u2019t enthralled looks around seven years old and yells \u201cclanker!\u201d at it. \u201cI\u2019ve watched enough movies to know that these things are going to hunt us down!\u201d he says.<\/p>\n The people cheering Marvin on aren\u2019t outliers: these protests have struck a chord with people because of a growing distrust around AI and automation. According to a recent study by Pew Research, a majority of Americans are deeply skeptical<\/a> of AI; more adults are expecting it to have a negative impact than a positive one. And while I\u2019m not sure if other people are blocking food delivery robots, we\u2019re certainly seeing a rise in protests against datacenters and other symbols of automation. A few weeks ago in Philadelphia I passed a woman standing in front of a Waymo self-driving taxi (which is being tested in<\/a> the city with human safety drivers) blocking its path and yelling \u201cLAME-O\u201d.<\/p>\n Despite this antipathy, robots are gradually being normalized. Pennsylvania legalized delivery robots via Act 106 of 2020<\/a>, defining them as \u201cpedestrians\u201d and they\u2019re slowly becoming part of the landscape. When Avride\u2019s robots first appeared in Philadelphia back in March people would gawk at them and take selfies. Now most people just ignore them. And this same phenomenon is happening all across the world. While it isn\u2019t clear exactly how many food delivery robots are in operation there are a number of companies besides Avride which operate these machines in the US, including Serve Robotics<\/a>, which is one of the biggest players, with a fleet of 2,000 deployed<\/a> robots.<\/p>\n While the automation industry has big plans to grow their fleets of robots, Marvin stages these protests because she wants to remind people that they have a say in all of this. They have a right to weigh in on whether private robots should be allowed on public streets.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m very supportive of the kinds of things that AI is doing in terms of medical breakthroughs,\u201d Marvin says. \u201cAnd I think robots are fine on factory floors, but they don\u2019t belong in public space. I take the position that this isn\u2019t inevitable. But you have to have the will to do something. In Toronto they banned delivery robots from sidewalks in 2021<\/a>. And I think, you know, the question is: who is public infrastructure designed to serve?\u201d<\/p>\n The robot in front of Marvin isn\u2019t (yet) smart enough to answer to this question. But it does seem to have clocked that it\u2019s not going to be able to get to the restaurant to pick up its food today. After repeatedly trying to get around the professor it seems to have gone into hibernation mode. Eventually Marvin, who has to go to campus and prepare for a class, steps aside. The robot powers back up and trundles home to its garage. I know it\u2019s only a computer with wheels, but I could swear it looked dejected. Marvin, on the other hand, looks triumphant.<\/p>\n![\"Carolyn](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/_Carolyn_Marvin_s_robot-disrupting_expedition--349c8153-dc05-4d5f-a10d-8cf44655fa25-6.0.0000000.jpg\")
Carolyn Marvin\u2019s robot-disrupting expedition<\/p>\n![\"Avride](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Marvin_in_a_standoff_with_a_delivery_robot_on_a_recent_morning--9cb68c80-b3fb-47c8-b5e3-49b4c208ee91.jpeg\")
Avride added zzz visuals to communicate the robot was waiting for an order.<\/p>\n