Grandma’s new AI wheelchair at Chicago’s O’Hare appeared to be rolling smoothly, until a man stepped right in front of it

Self-driving wheelchairs are starting to show up in major airports, and a viral clip from Chicago shows how abrupt their safety features can feel. A man walking directly in front of an AI-powered wheelchair at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport caused the device to slam on its brakes, leaving a passenger bouncing in her seat, according to BroBible.

The incident, captured on video by TikTok user Grace, shows her grandmother appearing surprised when the AI wheelchair suddenly jerks to a halt. While the movement was smooth before the pedestrian crossed the path, the abrupt stop caught the grandmother off guard, though she burst out laughing immediately after. 

Grace jumped in to help, joking that she should stand in front of the chair to do the sensors’ job herself. Disabled travelers have been sharing rough travel experiences online for months. A United passenger claims she was stranded on a jet bridge, and barrel racer Amberley Snyder says she was nearly removed from a flight on Contour Airlines.

That chair is built to stop for anyone who crosses its path

This specific AI wheelchair appears to come from a company called WHILL, which says it places its self-driving chairs in airports across the globe. These machines rely on preprogrammed routes and digital mapping to move passengers through terminals. The chairs feature 360-degree sensors designed to spot obstacles like people walking by, which then trigger the automatic braking system.

Some viewers were less amused. One commenter speculated that stopping short like that “could cause some serious spinal issues in elders,” while another claimed people constantly cut in front of wheelchairs and scooters.

A third viewer claimed an empty AI wheelchair nearly hit them at O’Hare, an account that has not been verified. However, WHILL says its chairs can drive back to base on their own after dropping off a passenger. The company also says it has kept a perfect safety record across more than one million rides.

There’s a real reason airports keep adding these chairs anyway

Airports are turning to this technology as demand for assistance grows. The UK Civil Aviation Authority says requests for passenger help have more than doubled in 10 years, while the International Air Transport Association says some airports see annual increases of about 30 percent. The AI wheelchair is meant to ease that load on human staff.

The trade-off is that an AI wheelchair can be quite jerky. A peer-reviewed study from 2026 found that some riders reported abrupt stops or jerky movements that left them briefly unsteady or worried about falling. One participant said they preferred human operators, as people are better at anticipating when to slow down or stop.

Despite these issues, the feedback on the chairs is not entirely bad. The same study showed that 86.3 percent of participants would be willing to use an AI wheelchair again, and 71.5 percent even said they preferred it over a staff-operated chair. However, many participants also asked for the chairs to move faster.

Wheelchair users often face challenges when traveling, as airlines mishandle wheelchairs at twice the rate of regular checked bags. A 2022 survey from Paralyzed Veterans of America found that nearly 70 percent of people traveling with a wheelchair or scooter reported damage to their equipment.

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