Robotics
Computer generated words and actions Controlled by said computers I hope will be a servant of the future.
I am Visually Impaired, and would love to simply switch on my machine one day, and command Metal Mickey, or whoever is on duty at the time to do things I find impossible at the moment.
Eg. drive me to the city centre for some retail therapy, unaccompanied just me and my KIT Car.
I could go out each evening, get absolutely drunk, and not need to bother anyone for a lift home.
Come to think of it, I could even start my own taxi service. I could sit in the front seat, give my orders, and listen to the gossip. Of course, I would not repeat it to a living soul, because of the Data Protection Act.
On a more serious note though, can you ever envisage the day when robots could become Doctors, Nurses, Lab Technicians, and generally rule the universe?
And would everything have to be PC if so, we are already learning valuable lessons. Ha Ha.
I鈥檓 not a fan of Science Fiction. Although I wouldn鈥檛 call myself lazy, I look forward to the day when I am wholly independent, when I won鈥檛 have ask where this is or why has my toothbrush been moved?
This is a little selfish I know, because a robot will never take the place of loved ones.
All the same, if a robotic housewife can save my sister a shed load of cooking, cleaning and general housework, I鈥檓 all for it.
Robots should do such work, because, er, they are cheaper than people so i could pay less tax :)
Having watched Artificial Intelligence a few times now (Steven Spielberg film) - I thought it presented a very interesting concept of how far robotic development could go in the future.
Apart from the entertainment value it also raised some fascinating moralistic, ethical and human dilemmas which would give room for discussion and debate into the wee hours.
Well worth a few viewing
Margo,
The idea of a car driving you to a destination without anyone at the wheel is already a fact.
However from your front door to a specific point-shop etc is still a little way off.
Driverless cars are running in Germany at the moment, albeit during research.
The whole gambit of the robotic age is just around the corner.
Have patience.
Would our belief and trust in technology need to reach another level before we handed over the steering wheel of the car to a robot?
Can it ever be responsible to leave a robot to do the babysitting?
In other words, for robots to become really useful, won't we need them to exhibit 'character' so that we can make a judgment about whether or not to trust them?
If we don't acknowledge our need to feel really comfortable about trusting robots won't the robot age be an alienating and anxious epoch for humans?
What will it take to trust the robot? And will our test for trustworthiness be more or less rigorous than it is for our fellow humans?
I'd be happily more trusting of the possibility of 'robotics' being as beneficial as humans
in the future if we could only reach the point where the existing Orange, BT or British Gas automated phone line system
actually worked - without causing migranes, siezures & phone rage.
That's the thing with the current computor generated 'intelligence'.
They only offer programmed options. But human beings are such contrary creatures so options can always be expanded on.
I think therefore....I opt.
'....for robots to become really useful, won't we need them to exhibit 'character' so that we can
make a judgment about whether or not to trust them?'
As character is individual and shaped by a variety of complex issues then wont the person
creating the robot just recreate a version of him/herself?
My friend has a down-syndrome son. Alfie. Or, Alfredo, as we tend to call him.
A more beautiful child you could not meet (I know, I know....'they' are soooo loving - but HE is. He just is.)
She suspects her son will not be a great brain surgeon.
Neither will he (presumably) invent the cure for cancer.
He may not eradicate world poverty.
But....he might. These things are possible because his (genetic) programming is not ALL he is.
We've all been suprised when some person - with a difficult to pronounce 'condition' - does something remarkable as a result of said 'condition'.
'Wow. That person doesn't like to be hugged like 'we' do, but he can memorise the complete works of Shakespear after only one reading. Funny how the mind works isn't it?'
It's easier to get an early test now for such 'abnormalities' -
with the unwritten assumption that should there be anything 'wrong' it can be rectified.
Implying it's ok to 'get rid' of a whole section of our society because they are 'different' is a terrible thing, surely?
Will humanity benefit, in the future, from more people being 'the same'? (The same as who? Who gets to be the blue-print?)
There are a lot of things Alfredo will never do- things which will, by their very absence, benefit humanity.
He will never invent a new weapon of mass destruction.
He will never attempt to invade another country in order to gain power.
I know this to be true because he simply cannot bare to see anyone or anything hurt.
His openness is a joy to behold. It's what people used to call 'simple'.
In it's purest form simple is great! He wants to be loved and he wants to love. He offers it back, simply. Uncluttered & simple.
He has too much of what 'we' seem to be lacking. The loving gene?
If people in positions of power are advocating
an intolerance of differences in favour of a
homogeneous society in the here and now - isn't
it too far-fetched to expect anything to be different with artificial intelligence?