Last week, I wrote about Toyota's humanoid robot and its new running skill. The post received a large number of visitors as it was posted on Slashdot and referenced by a number of other technology blogs. The video on YouTube received more than 600,000 views and over 800 comments. That's great and thank you all for watching. However, I was astonished by the comments posted both on this blog and on YouTube. Most of the comments were expressing fear about the robots taking over the world and killing all humans in the process. References to popular movies such as Terminator and Transformers were plenty.
Why are we afraid of robotic technology so much?
Most people have little understanding of what it takes to develop working robots whether humanoid, 4-legged, tracked or wheeled. It is incredible that in the span of just a few decades we have been able to construct machines that walk on two legs, manipulate objects using dexterous hands, can perceive their surrounding environment, and interact with people. Compare that to nature that took millions of years to evolve humans.
That said, these marvels of technology are designed to perform very specific tasks. The robots are not self-aware even though we might think they are because of their human traits. Robots work tirelessly in factory assembly lines performing jobs that require precision and speed. The Japanese are investing much money in the development of partner robots because they are predicting a huge shortfall in qualified workers due to a quickly aging population; who will take care of the elderly if there are not enough men and women to do the job? Some robots are designed for use by the military including delivering ordnance but these are always under supervision and remote control. Military robots do not make decisions on who to attack and when but instead follow a well laid out plan given to them by humans.
Will one day robots become self-aware and decide to eliminate humans?
If we are to believe movies, TV, and science fiction novels, then chances are that yes sooner than later advanced, intelligent robots will enslave humanity. I am not so sure why but apparently they will. To me it seems the doomsayers take the stance that robots will be very much like humans leading to a disastrous outcome (for us, of course.) In the course of history humans have not given a second thought to enslaving other humans whom they thought inferior to them. If robots are smarter and more capable than us then surely they will inevitably decide to enslave us.
Not necessarily say I.
There is no reason why self-aware robots will develop to be evil and hate humanity. There is a good chance that the robots may decide to help humans. Along with becoming self-aware, they may also become sympathetic to us. Robots do not feel tired and can easily be repaired if necessary. Not to mention that if the robots develop an adventurous spirit inherent to humans, then chances are that they will move away from the Earth exploring the vastness of space something that humans will not be able to do for a very long time.
Anyways, to conclude a longer than usual post, I don't think that robots will necessarily turn bad and try to enslave humanity regardless of what you watch in the movies. We are designing our robots to co-exist with us and we are making efforts to make sure that in the future robots will be treated ethically just like we treat other humans. There is nothing to fear. We should be proud of our achievements in robotics and artificial intelligence. Maybe one day if humanity perishes and robots inherit the Earth, they will write their own version of Genesis with a human being the creator who made them in his image.
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5 comments:
12:10 PM
I agree, however I do have one concern. Robots, in the world today, are not sentient, and therefore the fact that they do much work for us is not a big deal. However, were they to become sentient, then forcing them to continue to do work for us without compensation is akin to slavery. If, once we create robots that are sentient, we don't address that issue, then I think a "robot revolution" could be a very real possibility. What would you do if you were more intelligent, stronger, faster, and more durable than a human, yet all the humans treated you like a slave?
3:26 PM
I think, quite honestly, that A.I. will be more ethical than we homo sapiens sapiens. Where we rely on language to convey information, they could freely transfer memories in their entirety. They could "know" one another in ways that would lend themselves to understanding the other as a part of themselves...making them capable of a depth of compassion we can only approximate.
8:27 AM
Would a robot care if it were a slave though? Something innate in humans makes them want to be free it seems, but there is no guarantee that whatever software evolves in a robot brain will have any objection to a life of service. We can't assume their nature would evolve in a way that is congruous with human nature.
12:47 AM
I don't seriously think that it's a big issue, but it's an issue.
Sentient robots not so much. My feeling is that anything that can make it's own case for having rights, should be given "human" rights. And I suspect that most people wouldn't object to granting citizenship to anything that thinks, be it natural or artificial.
However since AI is the hardest part of robot design, there will be a long period while robots with no more moral sense than insects get better and better physical capabilities. They will be expensive and dangerous, and as such loaded with failsafes and kill switches, but they will not be smart.
The real problem happens if and when robots are used to design and build new robots. Humans would have to be careful to assure that no "mutations" occur in robot programming that let them slip out of our control and start to serve the purpose of their own self-replication.
6:11 AM
finally, somebody gets it. I get sick of seeing all of those sort of comments on youtube videos.
They're always being watched, they're programed by us humans, and that if they did go haywire, the humans would be there, fix 'em up and they're good as new.
Those stupid comments about 'oh they're going to take over the human race like in (insert iRobot/Terminator/etc. comment). Those people obviously dont get the work and programming that go into the robots to prevent all this.
And looking at the comments here, yes we wouldn't like to be slaves, but the term robot comes from 'robota' that means forced labor basically. So in a way, they are already programmed to be working under humans....
There are some robots out there that can learn so it potentially could learn human weaknesses,but the flaw to that is that it learns like a two year old.
There is still much more to learn and do about robotics so we're far away from that happening i hope!
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