Robots. You gotta love them. They’ve been a fixture of science fiction for over one hundred years. I’ve not seen the Czech-language play R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots) by Karel Čapek that introduced the term, but maybe a science fiction convention somewhere will stage the play. I’d pay real money to see that.
But I prize my DVD of the reconstructed 1927 silent film, Metropolis, robot and all. (I know. I know. DVDs are passé.) [Image Credit: https://cdn.britannica.com/56/80056-050-1ED31880/Alfred-Abel-Brigitte-Helm-Rudolf-Klein-Rogge-Metropolis-1927.jpg?w=300]
There are many topics about robots I’ll discuss over the next several months, including the “dis-embodied” AI version stuck in its own infrastructure. Because, really, the plan is to put a fully functional, self-aware consciousness in a human-like device. Rather like the Terminator, as opposed to Skynet.
Someday, we may get there. But I’d ask—why? What use could there be for an autonomous, humanoid device—do we need an R. Daneel Olivaw, a Data, or, more currently, a Demerzel (for the Foundation fans)?
A friend and I have been discussing that topic and the concepts it spawns for the past year or so. At one point, we concluded that there are at least three reasons to create such a device:
- Technology. Achieving a technical challenge. Do it to see if it can be done.
- Companionship. Can we gain some comfort from an automated companion?
- Labor. They could work for us. Depending on the level of human-like or supra-human-like abilities, that work could be tedious, simple, hazardous, complex, and maybe even beyond a human’s capabilities.
These are not mutually exclusive, and I’m sure there are other lists we could discuss. But this is what the Brain Scientist and I worked from for our discussions. (Sure, a Neuroscientist and a Sci Fi guy talking about artificial brains—what could go wrong? We’ll just stay out of the basement laboratory!)
As to the labor question—well, that’s already our reality. We have robots, even if they aren’t self-aware, autonomous, human-like devices, in all sorts of manufacturing roles. However, NASA is looking at adapting a commercially developed robot to work with astronauts on missions to the Moon and Mars. [Image Credit: NASA]
https://www.space.com/nasa-apptronik-humanoid-space-robots-moon-mars
Robots with emotions, which interact with us and the world as humans do, that’s another question entirely. In our discussion, questions arose: would a robot, could a robot, or should a robot have emotions? What purpose would it serve?
As you might imagine, we didn’t come up with an answer. Nevertheless, there are examples where AI or robots can emulate human emotions and might find some use.
NASA is considering AI as companionship for astronauts on deep space missions. The article’s author asks whether empathetic AIs might be useful in caring for astronauts’ mental health on deep space missions.
[Image Credit: NASA]
https://www.space.com/astronauts-artificial-intelligence-companions-deep-space-missions
The last question for today, which I’ll return to in later blog posts, is how we will react to robots that exhibit emotions. If a robot acts like a human, responding in ways familiar, will we assume it is feeling these emotions? Will we react in kind? And what if that reaction is anger, compassion, or love? It’s going to get complicated.
I’ll leave you with one of my favorite scenes from the Will Smith movie iRobot. In the clip, Detective Spooner asks the telling question: Why do you give them faces?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ouht1xip9NQ (2:41 minutes)
I hope you enjoy the clip. Feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you think the answer is.
Thanks for stopping by.
[Disclaimer: Please accept my apologies for any ads that pop up before the linked videos. They do not reflect my position, nor do I endorse any of the products—it’s just a YouTube thing I can’t get around.]