I, Robot

I, Robot

   "It going to get you."  That's one of the chorus lines from Alan Parson's award-winning album from the mid-70s, I, Robot.  And although we might picture robots as primarily assembly workers, doomed to do repetitive precision tasks over and over, today's robots are moving far beyond what we expected.  Newer robots have "no motors, bearings, shafts, or other rigid parts," in one report from Bloomberg Businessweek.  Robots today can pick up a credit card from a table, place an elderly person into a bed, and even have the potential to become a new prosthetic...and they're entering a world of teaching themselves (a process known as "transfer learning").

   This subject became the cover story in the November issue of Popular Science.  But the subject matter had changed to how robots can move from delivering medical supplies in hospitals or stocking and retrieving products in massive warehouses (both already in existence) to providing companionship to humans.  Take a close look at Geminoid F and get a glimpse at where the new world of robotics is heading...eerily close to human appearance (even skin texture), head nodding, chest "breathing," eyes locking in on one person then moving to another.

   The new world of robots (one model is on sale next February for under $2,000, designed to be "a member of the family") show empathy, blink when needed, answer questions, even "feel" your depression; but one researcher in the article worries about this "illusion of a relationship.  And she worries that some who find human relationships challenging may turn to robots for companionship instead." 

   The counter to that comes from some of the robot manufacturers, especially those working to bridge the gap.  In their mission statement (see the Geminoid link above), they report: Geminoids and Telenoids are intended to interact with people;...research involving androids from its inception has dealt with the philosophical question of why people exist.  In order to confront such questions, we think that not only knowledge of engineering and science, but also of philosophy and art, is necessary.  Conversely, it is possible that some problems which up until now have only been explored by philosophers and artists will become available to engineers and scientists through the use of androids.  We have explored new information media based on humanlike robots that harmonize humans with information-environment beyond existing personal computers, while inquired "what is the essence of human beings?"

   That might be the question, what is our essence?  A robot that cleans or assembles or waits on us is okay but beyond that?  But what if, as in  the movie Robot & Frank with Alan Arkin, a robot brings a constant smile to your aging mother's face, a smile you haven't seen since registering her into a care facility (this is already being tried in Japan with a set of robotic baby seals named Paro...the results are surprisingly positive).  Is it just a matter of culture (the article in Popular Science mentions the positive view of robots in Japan vs. the science fiction destroying robots in our Western culture, such as The Terminator or HAL in 2001, A Space Odyssey)?

   One can't help but remember the scene from The Twilight Zone, a solo man based on a distant planet, his only companion a female robot.  When the rescue ship arrives to take him back to earth, he asks about bringing the robot;  no room, they repl,y to which the man vehemently objects, as if being asked to leave his wife.  It's a robot, they reply.  No, he screams, at which point they simply destroy the robot, shocking him back to reality.

   Human empathy seems to translate much quicker to our identifying with a machine, some researchers saying they only have to trigger two human senses to produce that empathy.  Stare at the dilating eyes and sorrowful frown of the animated Puss In Boots or your dogs passive look as you unload your worries.  But are we becoming so isolated from interacting with another human that a robot might prove to be a viable alternative.  Revulsion at the idea of talking to an android disappears with one hug, when tested on children.  And even the editor of Popular Science, who has a robot wandering their offices, said that it was accepted within 3 days, the staff now ignoring "Gus" as they named him, as long as he did his jobs.

   But this isn't a one-way transaction.  Robots today are constantly learning, watching and monitoring your reactions, responses and facial expressions as well, all to better respond to you as your "companion," even while parked in the corner.  But are they limited to just seeing you or will they be taking in peripheral data, transfer learning and passing it onto other robots in the building or office...or cloud?  Are these thoughts limited to our culture or our age group (does the younger generation look at the future of robots as exciting?)...as one roboticist, Hitoshi Matsubara told Popular Science, "My dream is to assign a robot to someone when they are born, and that robot will play the role of bodyguard and also the role of friend, and he will record and memorize everything that the boy or girl is experiencing.  Eventually that boy or girl will get married, and that robot will still help him in his need, and when he gets old, the robot will do nursing care for him, and at last he will attend his deathbed.  From cradle to grave, one robot, one person."

   Science fiction?  Technological wonder?  Unbelievable?  Frightening?  This seems to be the future, like it or not.  From bomb detection and search & rescue to convalescent homes, robots may become as welcome as they are accepted, viewed as beneficial rather than threatening.  The article is titled,  Will A Robot Be Your Next Best Friend?   "Isn't life simply sweeter when we're with another?  Why be alone, they ask, when you don't have to be?"

   We don't ever have to be alone.  But now, that decision might be falling out of our reach.  Just ask the robot soon to be parked in your closet.