On November 23, Mnet held the third and final day of the 2024 MAMA Awards at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka, Japan. This was the concluding night of the award ceremony, bringing some big wins for the world’s top K-Pop artists.
There were many iconic moments throughout the three nights, from a BIGBANG reunion to Bruno Mars’ “Korean speech.” Another moment was between TXT‘s Hueningkai and a robotic dog, as he politely greeted it when going up on stage to accept an award with his members.
Kai is definitely a green flag he even showed respect to a dog robot
— DEJA VU (@Bawmznn) November 22, 2024
I’M CRYINGSJF WE GOT A ROBOT DOG BOWING TO HUENINGKAI KAI?!&@$ 😭😭😭pic.twitter.com/11ac2YqABh
— ᯓ✦ Maryam (@txtdom) November 22, 2024
The video went viral with 436.4K views at the time of writing, with many complimenting Hueningkai’s sweet personality. Yet, many were turned off by the robotic dog, claiming that these types of robot dogs are used as “war weapons.” Robot dogs have been known to be deployed in the Middle East and other regions with guns mounted on them during wars and used to “gather intelligence” and monitor troops in war zones.
i want to clear up that this dog is used in alot of militaries around the world so this is not zionist propaganda per se but it’s still weird they just have a war weapon at MAMA
— mina 🫧 (@syiwrl) November 25, 2024
zero clue 🙁 i just hate the fact that zionism is becoming more and more common in kpop every passing day and we can’t do anything except boycott praying that these greedy organizations listen to us
— mina 🫧 (@syiwrl) November 24, 2024
Ah yes the cute little robot dogs used to mass murder people https://t.co/iPcJdaaDJS
— J. অরণ্য⁷🇧🇷🇱🇧 (@JayPondh) November 22, 2024
Some netizens felt that including the robot dogs was military propaganda meant to desensitize viewers.
These are the fuckn robot demons made to be the size of small children so Israhell can snipe babies and toddlers.
They are desensitising you and y’all fall for it like buffoons.
“Oh such a cute robot killer dog that murders Palestinian children point blank!” https://t.co/L5rMkVTwbI pic.twitter.com/x4GPOSlKs6— Yoongi and Geto 🪷🔻 (@evilbunnyminho) November 23, 2024
God I hate when I’m reminded I’m in the bad place. Those robot dogs are not “cute” technology, they’re desensitizing us to them https://t.co/upKsgK3oeg
— Liz⁷ 엘리사벳 #HybeDivestFromZionism 🍉₊˚⊹ ౨ৎ (@btsgivesuwings) November 22, 2024
That dog is not a war weapon. And although I do not know if that dog will be turned into a war weapon, it’s a robot that has nothing to do with war right now. Focus on actual robots that are actively killing ppl and not this performative shit
Thank you— BESIDJU_ (@Versace_milk) November 25, 2024
I hate this. Robot dogs are being used as weapons in militaries and police forces. Do not let them desensitize you to the violence and damage these will cause real world. https://t.co/jsUx7aT2zh https://t.co/AJkMB9UrHN
— Mackenzie (@TheGirlUnsure) November 23, 2024
While the robotic dogs were featured throughout the award show, even during artists’ performances, the clip of Hueningkai specifically garnered the most backlash.
mingyu sitting on the floor with the maestro robot dogs before their performance… he is 3 apples tallpic.twitter.com/6rs8ci1FrF
— 🐶 (@gyumedia) November 23, 2024
TXT’s Yeonjun opens the 2024 MAMA Awards stage with a robot, while performing GGum. pic.twitter.com/TtSJSqWB79
— About Music (@AboutMusicYT) November 22, 2024
The Independent wrote, “IDF reportedly deployed robot dogs fitted with aerial drones earlier this year.” Netizens are becoming increasingly alarmed by the dystopian world we live in, as there are ongoing genocides around the world.
Robot dog with machine guns.
Are you ready for them ? pic.twitter.com/IAJbtPExvk
— Gun Lovers Club (@GunloverClub1) September 17, 2024
On the other hand, some netizens claimed that this robotic dog, in particular, is not a war weapon but Spot, a robot dog made by Boston Dynamics. Like most everything, robot dogs can be used for good but can also be used for evil. The National Institutes of Health called robot dogs “Promising technological interventions that can benefit the psychosocial health of older adults and people with dementia.”
As a dynamic sensing platform, Spot provides valuable insights into routine operations, site health, or potentially hazardous situations. With Spot, your team can focus on the things that matter most, while staying out of harm’s way.
— Boston Dynamics
Those are boston dynamic robot dogs…not the ones from the military…it’s just different colored… pic.twitter.com/toV1nqk6NL
— sleepyy – SEEING KIOF NEXT WEEK!!!! (@sleepyvibes_00) November 25, 2024
Netizens have shared multiple instances of robot dogs being used for good. However, as robot dogs are AI-driven, there are multiple concerns, as robot dogs are given the power to make life-and-death choices without human oversight in many situations.
Singapore unveils a robot dog to enforce safe distancing among park-goers pic.twitter.com/wrOxg36jgH
— ￮༺𓂂𓂃ᗙ 𝔐𝔞𝔯𝔱𝔦𝔫 ᗛ𓂃𓂂༻￮ (@KlatuBaradaNiko) May 9, 2020
When the robot dogs walk the children…
You know we are living in the future. pic.twitter.com/o9ey9RMvmG
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) November 24, 2024
Still, many netizens feel it’s no different from using drones to create cool light shows or record performances, scenery, etc. Yet, drones are also commonly used in war.
thank you, i wasn’t made aware of this till now
— mina 🫧 (@syiwrl) November 25, 2024
By this logic (and I’m not saying it’s wrong) it’s also dystopian to have drones flying around filming us when they are used for the same thing
And that we fly in planes when planes are use for the same thing
The world is just Dystopian in general when you look at it all
— Mel Targaryen (@MelTarg) November 25, 2024
i don’t usually rt minors, but that is indeed just a common robot dog. just like how there are drones used in war tactics and common drones used to film the kpop performance stages that y’all watch everyday. https://t.co/UExDq0BDZl
— Ciera 씨에라 ⭐ (@cierabyul) November 25, 2024
Additionally, a VCR ahead of Yeonjun‘s performance earned criticism for using AI (Artificial Intelligence) to create music and visuals, another aspect making the world feel increasingly dystopian. Read more below.
TXT’s “MAMA Awards” VCR Receives Scathing Criticism
Source: The Indepdendent
