Robots are coming - are we ready?

A colleague of mine likes to give me clippings from the newspaper he reads on his commute by train. Almost every morning I come in to some snippet left on my desk. This colleague is an older gentleman, an Army historian and curator, and loves to share his wonder and amazement at the ways technology is changing our ways and habits. Today's snippet was from the Washington Post's Weekend Express and included this photo of a robot waitress serving food in a restaurant in Pakistan. When I read the caption I instantly thought of Sherry Turkle and the countless pages she devotes to discussing robots in Alone Together. Turkle wouldn't be surprised at all to find that robots are serving pizza. This might seem incredibly futuristic, but it's really only the hilt of the technological sword. We see this as new only because our exposure to this kind of robotic service is still germinating in the United States. One can order a sandwich with an iPad in the U.S., but robots already run hotels, restaurants and perform a variety of other services in Japan and Korea. They're coming, and as Turkle writes, the biggest question is whether or not we're ready for them. In fact, experts are already concerned about the societal and moral implications of the "robotic moment". A robot serving pizza is certainly nothing to fear, unless it displaced a real human waiter, but many fear that as we get used to robots performing more sophisticated human functions, we lose something of our ability to connect to each other on a human level. Developers are already pushing the boundaries of what robots can do, and many predict that it won't be long before they are extremely lifelike and readily sought by those whose lives lack real human companionship and intimacy. How will this affect our human relationships? In cities like Tokyo, people are already having to face this reality. Whether we like it or not, this is the future. The question is - are we ready for it?

Comments

  1. Man vs. Machine, a classic conflict. Daniel Pink also mentions the aftershocks of automation in "A Whole New Mind." As robotic technology advances, will the human race adapt as well? And in what ways? It will be hard to predict, for sure.

    I think humanity will always strive for connection - it's part of who we are on a biological level - but what will those connections look like? And who says one can't connect with a robot (see: Iron Giant or Big Hero 6)?

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  2. I had no idea that Tokyo was already employing robots. Wow. I guess like all other advancements we will become accustomed to these changes. Like Laura says above though, I feel people will always long for some connection. I sure hope us teachers aren't replaced by robots. I would love to watch a robot deal with bullying or hurt feelings. That could be interesting!

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  3. First off, that guy looking at that robot is everything! Haha. :-)

    It looks like Turkle is still concerned about artificial intelligence because she talks about it in Reclaiming Conversation as well. In Reclaiming Conversation, Turkle is concerned with our eventually inability to distinguish between talking to AI and talking to a real person. I think she fears that a robot can never be a replacement for a human because they won't truly understand what it's like to grow up as a human with all of our trials and tribulations. If we talk to a robot are we really trying to have a meaningful relationship with them, or do we just want something to agree with us all the time?

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    1. I agree, Beth. That guy's look is hilarious.

      You're right, and I think Turkle is on to something. I already see it. I'm not sure if I'm imagining it, but when I spend any significant amount of time with people younger than me, say, my brother who's ten years younger than me, it seems like they communicate in a completely different way. I think social media has done this. It's like having a friend who always agrees with you. I think that if a person wants it, it's so easy for her to stay in a feedback loop of comments, posts, threads and opinions that match her worldview completely. Even "facts" can be bent to suit one's opinions. It's much more difficult to engage real humans in a conversation in which they almost certainly won't agree with everything you say. Having a robot who agrees with you all the time is like having a friend who does the same. I've had "yes men" friends in the past - do they really help you grow as a person? Personally, if I was acting like an ass, I'd like someone to tell me, not tell me everything I do is amazing. It's scary that some people don't have that in their lives.

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  4. Wow! This reminds me of an episode of Black Mirror- the British show on Netflix. It likes to test the boundaries of our obsession with technology. In one of the episodes a woman's husband dies and she ends up re-creating him as a robot. At first she is over the moon to have him back, but then she starts to notice she cannot connect with him the way she could with her real husband. I won't spoil the ending in case you haven't seen it but it reminded me that we are constantly seeking connection and while robots may come and provide several services for us I do not think they will ever be able to make the same connections we have with each other.

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    1. I like Black Mirror a lot, but I haven't seen that episode. It sounds a lot like the movie Pet Sematary - the family tries to resurrect their lost cat, and eventually a dead family member, but it does not go as expected. I agree to a certain extent. I think that unless AI is so intelligent that it is indistinguishable from human intelligence, I don't think we'll be able to connect with it in the same way. One can imagine that future, and it has been depicted in many sci-fi movies, but we just aren't there yet.

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  5. I was having lunch with a friend today and she mentioned the 'body shaming' incident experienced by the pregnant news anchor: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/pregnant-news-anchor-laura-warren-body-shaming-georgia-wrdw-tv-disgusting-voicemail-a7839651.html

    CNN did an article a couple of years ago about Instagram and how it has influenced our world: http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/22/fashion/instagram-is-changing-the-world/index.html

    The article focuses on the postives and this article calls it the most harmful due to an increase in body shaming: https://qz.com/988765/instagram-fb-is-the-most-harmful-social-network-for-your-mental-health-but-youtube-goog-has-a-positive-effect-a-new-report-says/

    Might images of these scary robots result in robots as the next victims of body shaming? This specimen does not exactly follow Pink's notion of Design: form, function aesthetics. OOOH! Does this statement mean I just body-shamed a robot?

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  6. What studies are out there on tools such as Instagram, FB that facilitate the spread of viral videos and images?

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    1. Research related to education of course! How are these image and video tools (add in You Tube) impacting education--good and bad?

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  7. Back in 2012ish I stayed in a hotel in NYC that had robotic luggage storage, so I think the technology has been around for a while but the culture continues to slow us down here in the states. I tried to find a picture but it's lost in the annals of my Facebook.

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