Humans, robots and artificial intelligences reconfiguring urban life in a crisis

Autonomous urban robots were introduced in Milton Keynes (MK), UK, 2018 to automate on-demand grocery delivery. Two years later the COVID-19 pandemic rendered routine activities such as delivering groceries or visiting supermarket unexpectedly unsafe for humans. The ensuing disruption provided opportunities investigate potentialities of robotic and autonomous systems provide cities with resources coping unexpected situations pandemics, heatwaves blizzards ultimately transform reinforce flows, leading new ways living city that arise a result emerging human-robot constellations. crisis accelerated ongoing transformation relationships made its tensions potentials visible. case MK suggests cognitive capabilities AIs are not be found exclusively computer bits human neurons but from encounters contexts, institutions, policies, practices even materiality itself being crucial emergence AI.