Blog Post #4

The Promise and Peril of Robots in Film, TV and Real Life: Friends or Foes?

After viewing the YouTube clips on artificial intelligence and scientific progression in technology, I have to admit how frightening the experience was. Although many of us as viewers have not physically encountered one of these robotic "humans," since that is what the scientists that built them intended for them to be, the very idea of their existence was utterly intimidating. The original prototypes that were built to perform human like movements seemed to produce an non-harmful and somewhat cute reaction from the class audience. However, once the actual humanistic features began to evolve and we saw hair, skin, finger nails and actual expressions, the fear began to instill upon some. 

As we looked into different sources, such as film and texts, I noticed the love/hate relationships society has created for robotics and artificial intelligence. Ray Kurzweil has a technoromantic opinion when it comes to his story The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology and neglects concern for the overall theory that in time, robots will surpass human intelligence. In Phillip K. Dick's, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? there is an uncertainty that I reaped from the graphic novel. Would robotics even matter if they were indistinguishable from us? Throughout the graphic novel, I noticed that towards the end, one of the main robotic characters, a female develops some signs of emotional traits. If they appear to have feelings of happiness, sadness and remorse, does that not make them human? 

David Gelernter, in “Dream Logic, the Internet and Artificial Thought” has opposing ideas about robotics and feels that they will never equate to humans. Along with his negative beliefs on robotics, come supporting sources such as "Terminator" and "The Blade Runner." Although the film "The Blade Runner" is nearly identical to the graphic novel in the course pack, there was a different interpretation made by the producer, making the robots in the film easily distinguishable from humans. They could not answer certain questions and lacked experience with many situations. The concluding negative idea to me based on these three sources is that robots, even if they know what actions proceed to certain emotions, cannot control their behaviors as a human is nurtured to do. These creations will end up causing harm and destruction.