Robot VS Groundhog

Groundhog Day is that holiday we all know and sometimes talk about, because it's one of those funny holidays, and a super good movie staring Bill Murray. The holiday kicks off every February 3rd and has a groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil come out of his hole and help deiced what the weather will be.

We all know the tradition. It's been a fun story since we were kids. If he goes back in his hole because he saw his shadow... Six more weeks of winter. If he comes out, early spring. The ritual has been taking place for more than a century. Obviously the accuracy of this is a bit off. It's just for fun, but some people don't think it's fun. And it's understandable why.

Animal rights group PETA is asking Punxsutawney to retire Phil — and replace him with an artificially intelligent robot. The group claims that the Groundhog’s Day ceremony likely stresses Phil, because groundhogs are a prey species that actively avoid humans in the wild.

According to their research, not only would a robotic Phil make the ceremony more humane, it could also inject a bit of modernity — and accuracy — into it. Using AI and weather patterns this robot could give an actual solid guess for what the weather would be.

This holiday is still very iconic to many, we just had a Super Bowl ad about it, but many do agree that this may stress the animal out, while others say this event has a trained groundhog, and that he is fine with humans and is even an actor of sorts, meaning he is having no harm done to him. Both have points for and against their arguments.

In the end only time will tell if the switch is ever made, but for no it appears that Phil will be keeping his job and we will be seeing him next year.