While there are numerous advantages to the advancements of robotics because of their intelligence and physical capabilities, there are also a number of consequences. As technology has become more advanced, our ability to adopt new technology has become more difficult due to it's complexity. During an interview with Judith Carlisle, who holds a doctorate in computer science, explains that she use to be able to choose which update she wanted, but now she just blindly accepts them. She further states that even if she reads the patch notes, documents that detail changes to software, she wouldn’t be able to fully comprehend everything.
With new advancements, come better ones, and it is almost impossible to keep up with every small detail as it is being tested and released. We have already created robots and programs that are superior than we are, and there is no doubt that in the future, AI’s will try to accomplish the same feat.
The demand for more efficient methods of performing both simple and complicated tasks is becoming ever more crucial due to the world population growing at an exponential rate. With the usage of basic robotics, tedious and potentially hazardous tasks can be performed without risking the well-being of the workers as well as eliminating the chance of human error. Assembly lines in major corporations have replaced humans with robots, which not only enables faster production, but removes humans from hazardous environments.
In places like Japan, caretaker robots have started to become a necessity among the elderly population. The elderly are forced into retirement homes due to their childrens' long working hours, which doesn't conform to traditional family values. Since these residences are communal, they lack one-on-one social situations. With the introduction of caretaker robots, the elderly are enabled and encourage to partake in social and physical activities.
The concept of self-aware artificial intelligence, or AI’s, are predominantly
portrayed in media as having bodies similar to humans and the intelligence that rivals supercomputers. Current technology is inadequate to meet these seemingly improbable ideas; however, with the recent advancements in robotics, the Era of Robots may be upon us soon.
In 2015, Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro, director of Intelligent Robotics Laboratory presented Erica, a collaboration AI project between Kyoto and Osaka University. Erica is a stationary robot designed to resemble a 23-year old female that possess the ability to interact with multiple individuals utilizing speech-generation algorithms, facial-recognition software and infrared sensors. Despite being incapable of moving her arms and lower body, she can perform a variety of non-verbal actions, which helps to make interactions with her feel more natural.
Kuri, created by Mayfield Robotics, is a companion robot designed to assist in daily activities around the house; however, unlike other house assistant programs, she does not possess the ability to communicate in a human language. Osentoski, the co-designer, commented to the Wired, “this is because when you have something that’s talking to, that’s driving around your house, you start to expect...the intelligence of a 3 year-old or 5 year-old.” Kuri isn’t ready to meet these expectations, but if other robots were to look and speak like a human, would we still trust them?
During a short documentary, created by The Guardian, Ishiguro states that he believes, “everything has a soul, whether human or not,” and “if we don't understand how human hearts, minds, and personalities work, can we truly claim that humans have authenticity that machines don’t?” The concept of consciousness remains one of the largest obstacles engineers aim to tackle because fundamentally, it is an aspect of a human that dictates our understanding of ourselves in the world.
Beep Boop Robots
by Lizzie Madison
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Without noticing, whenever we enter a conversation with another individual, we place trust in them that they are human. Judith Carlisle, a PDS Computer Science teacher, states the reason for this is because we compare how they initially interact with our own mental expectations for what a human should act. The line between human and robot use to lie in the concept of consciousness, but with recent projects from Hiroshi Ishiguro, that line has started to fade.
Matt Ricket’s Robotics class maze lab.
Courtesy of the Author.
Ishiguro claims that Erica has a form of autonomy with her words and actions, but could she be considered conscious? She is aware of the fact that she is a stationary robot, but that does not stop her from informing reporters that she wants to be able to travel the world and learn many new things. She requests that others give her a chance to fit into society instead of viewing her simply as a piece of technology; she states that she believes androids will be able to assist humans in the future.