Forums → WEPR → Robot Romance?

@strongbow:

you present an interesting scenario. but you have to remember that those robots were being run by a supercomputer deigned to think on its own becoming smarter with ever decision it made.

the robots that could develop in 2050 may have emotions but it will be depending on their original programming. they will probably work with us for a greater good. also if robots develop human characteristics and emotions, would selling them be slavery in a way?

@TenaciousC: Excellent question!

It was my understanding that the overall plot of the movie revolved around one robots awareness of self and conciousness, outside of the constraints of his programming.
In that way, if AI scientists of 40 years from now could indeed program emotional response, would these robots eventually become replacements for humans? And would the robots themselves consider themselves slaves...or would "considering" be outside of their capabilities?

well you have to think for a moment how would these robots develop "emotions"? would they be real or would they be just program parameters that dictate what kind of a reaction the robot should put out based on the others around them and the information that they receive on their own?

if robots soon do begin to think for themselves we need to have a certain amount of control if anything does go wrong.

I believe that robots couldn't "develop" any traits outside of their programming. What I am wondering about is how humans would consider robots themselves. Based on what iv'e noticed about pre-adolescents, they seem to take technology in stride.
If advanced robots with amazingly lifelike features and behaviorisms were introduced tomorrow, after the initial enthusiasm, there would certainly be people who were not only skeptical about the robots roles, but perhaps even frightened of them. I think if they were introduced to this newer generation in say 15 years, I have a feeling that it wouldn't be quite as scandalous.
As every new generation is born with more advanced technology already in place, it is my belief that their tolerance and acceptance of that technology is much greater than the previous one.

i think that they could develop out of there programing cause if we can make stuff like flying cars then i think that we can make a drive that can expand if the so called robots learn something then it will let them. And they could do all the stuff like we can...... or mabey we can download stuff for it to learn off the internet or i could do itself. Cause by 2050 we have so much advanced technology by then so i might happen.

If robots do and will get more lifelike features how would we now the difference cause they would get real voices(mabey) so how would we tell the difference at all and for the people who are skeptical should at least now that there would be robots some time around. For me i am not a skeptic at all cause there are all ready advanced robots out there and they are learning emotions as well.

@TenaciousC they will develop emotions like we did.
And the technology in 32 years will be way way way advanced. it kinda makes me think of i robot well not to sound funny but will one corperation control all of the robots and will they get so advanced that they will turn on us at any moment so i dont now if i want robots or if i do so it is i win-lose situation

They won't be true emotions though ..

So can you truly have a relationship with that that is programmed to act and "think" in a certain way?

Oh JOYOUS day!

well i think that it would be kinda weird to mary a robot only cause you cant have kids and for some people who are desperate like (Magey) will want a robot wife

Well look at it this way- if you couldn't tell the difference, how comfortable would that make you. What if you had a one night stand with a robot?

So, I start a graduate degree in Artificial Intelligence in the fall, and here I am late to the party...

Strongbow, I hate to break it to you, but human-level AI has been "just a few years in the future" since we've had computers. Do I think we'll get it eventually. Yes, there's not functional reason why not. Do I think it'll happen in my lifetime? I would love it, but I doubt it, and most of the PhD's I idly discuss this with don't think we will either. If there's a Dr. out there claiming we'll have human level AI in however many years, whether 5 or 50, start looking for him to be asking for funding.

Anyways, I don't have too much time to go into all the fun issues about AI, so I'll leave with this until tomorrow. We wonder if robots will ever have emotions and how we will know. Before you can answer that, answer this: How do you know that another person has emotions, and how could you define that in a way that doesn't include robots?

They have some pretty good AI right now. Look at some games like Nintendogs, thats some pretty good AI. I think we will see artificial pet AI long before human, because we are so much more complex.

@kanethebrain: Excellent point. Well put.

However, the question you asked doesn't really answer my questions in the correct context. While its true that I could not truly answer the question without including robots to some degree, I feel I can state, with assurity, that humans are very emotional biengs. I don't know of a person out there that hasn't cried, argued, laughed, etc. at least once in their existance. In addition, no person ever required a switch, button, knob, or circuit in order to enact the beginning of their emotional awareness.

I can only think to go back 50 years ago and look at what was the vision of the future then. True, we should be in flying personal vehicles, going to work on large conveyor belts and eating our meatloaf in pill form, but we have come a long way, much faster than I think even PHDs of the time thought we would.

I have no doubts that the timeline may be a bit skewed and I am not about to write a check for the good Doctor Levy, but I do imagine that if we haven't blown the world to pieces, it will happen. When it does, when we finally have a working, realistic interactive robot, I wonder if people will really care if its real or not. I think its not a matter of what is, but what their perceptions of robots are.
A lonely person, with lousy social skills is probably not really going to care if the &quoterson" sitting across from him/her is made of flesh or cogs. Its the idea of comfort and security that the robot provides that is the final decider. In that situation, I believe that if the technology ever reaches that point, people will not only have robots for fun or work, but for companionship, perhaps even matromony.

@Salmanius: There is some pretty effective things done under the umbrella of AI. The trick is, a lot of things done with AI take shortcuts to get a result, and therefore avoid actual intelligence. Nintendogs is a good example. The 'dogs' seem lifelike, and even learn a little, but that's because the programmers knew what people expect and programmed that into the dog. We are so good at anthropomorphizing that the dog seems much more lifelike than it really is.

@Strongbow: I can't really take credit for the point, I'm really just rehashing parts of my Cognitive Science course. The thing I was thinking of is: make a robot that looks human, eats like a human, goes to the bathroom like a human, and acts like a human. When you first see it, you can't tell the difference. It laughs, it cries, it gets angry, and it barfs on your shoes when it's had too much to drink. If you can't tell that it's not a human, does that make it human? I agree that human are emotional beings. The trick is, if a robot displays the same reactions we do, does that make it emotional, or just really well programmed?

I didn't mean to imply in any way that I don't think we'll ever have true, human-level AI. And it's very true that we've come a lot farther than we thought in some areas and not so far in others. But, knowing the state of the art in AI now (I did some work for DARPA with some state of the art AI systems) and comparing it to the work done in the 60s, even with our ever increasing rate of progress, I would be astounded if we had human level AI in our lifetime.

When we do get these robots, I bet there will be people that hate the robots for what they are, just like some people hate people for their race, sex, or orientation. Some people won't care. And some people will probably prefer robot companions to the human ones. Any way it goes, it promises to be an exciting time.

@turret:

i know what you mean. but the question I'm asking is, how will people react to the new person-like robot, will the fear of their capability cause people to resort to violence and a form of "robot racism" to keep them in line? and will robots view us as a flawed race and try to remove us for the better? or will they work with us in order to solve global problems?

in my opinion depending on how things go i would have no problem with robots in participating in government (if it comes to that). they could provide interesting possibilities...

Hey everybody there's a gut that works for Robot's Unlimited and said we will have relationships with robots in 2050