In order for something to die, it must once have been alive. While this seems to be an irrefutable claim, in "Dying Robots", Richard van 't Hof presents death as the ultimate end not just for living creatures, but also for electric and mechanical systems. Despite fundamental differences between how organic and synthetic creatures come into and out of this world, we can explore our own inescapable mortality by experimenting with that of synthetic creatures.
Although machines might seem immortal, nothing lasts forever; motors wear down, semiconductors degrade, batteries fail. While not all technological failures exhibit clear symptoms prior to their occurrence, many do. For example, as a motor wears down, it may begin to move irregularly, or make noises it never used to make, or a battery on the verge of failing may begin to swell up until it bursts into flames. These effects can be seen as similar to the ways our bodies begin to fail us as we age (though fortunately we do not spontaneously combust as a battery would), even insofar as there are modes of failure that do not present themselves until it is too late. On top of this, much like Jibo's ultimate fate, which was presented in "Dying Robots" in today's era of everything being connected to the cloud at all times, much of the technology we use functionally contains a kill switch that its manufacturer could exploit on a whim, turning a perfectly functional device into the world's most overqualified paperweight.
In order to explore death through an artificial creature, I propose the following core concept: a computer that will delete files at random. In order to do this, I suggest that there should be a button an observer can press to delete a random file on the computer, controlled by a program on the computer. In order to further sell the concept, it would be a good idea to make the system appear as if it were functionally on its deathbed, which could be achieved by, on the one hand, having it run an older operating system that many are familiar with such as Windows XP. On the other hand, the system could also be made to use barely functional fans that produce more noise than any fan should, have its side panel open and have its internal wiring be a complete mess. Finally, there should be a simple sign next to the button prompting the user to put the computer out of its misery. Naturally, as there are many non-essential files on a computer, most button presses will likely not result in a system crash or any perceptible difference in the system's state, however this might also prompt a user to press the button multiple times, speeding up the system's demise.