Robots – good or bad?

First there was the Roomba robotic vacuum – www.iRobot.com – which I couldn’t agree more with, a vacuum that does the work for you! Then a UK paper just reported that there is a company marketing a robotic ball that chases burglars (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/02/14/wball14.xml), and now Bush wants to invest in robot troops -- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4199935.stm.



I am perfectly comfortable with a robot vacuum but I am not too sure about robot troops – I feel like we are becoming characters in a Terminator movie.

 

The term "robots" covers a wide variety of things, so I don't think you can really make an ethical judgment about such a term without first defining it. A machine in an assembly line can be considered a robot, as can the vacuum cleaners you mentioned, as can The Terminator.

Personally I'm a HUGE proponent of technological advancement, and I look forward to the day when artificial intelligence can equal human intelligence.

As for battlefield robots...I don't have a big problem with them (better to let some not-yet-intelligent robots "die" than to let soldiers die). But I think there are some ethical issues there. For example, the military may be victims of its own success if it succeeds in developing "smart" battlefield robots, because people would then be asking why it's fair to allow artificial intelligence to fight wars that they have no control over. But as long as the robots are kept relatively stupid, there probably isn't any ethical lapse as far as I'm concerned.

 

Well i believe the airforce is going into remote controled planes n stuf.. does that count?

 

.

 

Making robots fight all wars is a great idea. And then, to make it even more convinient we can move the entire war to the moon. Out of sight, out of mind.

(If you've read Stanislav Lem's "Peace on Earth" you'd know what I'm talking about. If not, why not pick it up and read it )

 

.

 

No, robots should not fight wars. If a war is about anything important, when it comes down to it, there will be people on the battlefield. Just as children and old men went to battle for Germany at the end of WWII, future humans will be on the battlefield for a losing cause, even when their opponents are robots. Only a human trigger finger can feel mercy for the wounded, the weak, the pitiful. A robotic trigger finger can only follow instructions, which may or may not still be applicable. The destruction of war (not just death but the destruction of facilities) is so horrible that it should only be done by humans.

 

.

 

That's true...for now.

But wouldn't that be a GOOD thing from the perspective of those who run the war?

 

People, PLEASE be realistic.

 

"If we have learned one thing from the history of invention and discovery, it is that, in the long run - and often in the short one - the most daring prophecies seem laughably conservative." - Arthur C. Clarke, 1951

Clarke had a lot of great quotes about technology, and I think he was right-on with almost all of them.

 

.

 

When you are talking abou robots, do you know who and where first used word "robot" and from which language it is?

 

.

 

Id never heard that Arhtur C Clarke quote before, not sure I agree with it. Look at telephony changed hugely since the 50's. My new mobile shows videos, takes videos/photos, displays microsoft office files, has a variety of low res games. I cant quite see how I'm going to use any of those features whilst walking around. It does however have crap battery life and poor reception.
My parent's TV's no better with all the new gadgets the days of just turing it on and watching are long gone. Now they have a 'home entertainment system' which took me ages because I had to spend the best part of a day playing with various cabling options and finding out worked best. I like to consider myself a technophile but its all starting to get beyond me, it is now officially harder to programme my VCR than it is for me to build my computer. Thanks to modern technology its never been harder to do pretty much anything. (Ironically as I write this I hear a bad case of printer rage going on in the background).

 

.

 

Shaggie: Czech, it was used by Karel Čapek in "R.U.R."
Original (Czech)
ENG translation


"Robota" is old czech word. It means compulsory work for liege. It is still used in some dialects in meaning of "work".

But you'r right, this word means "work" in some other languages.

 

.

 

[font=&quot]This was a really interesting thread so I had to register and respond. I believe robots can do us all a good service. I remember when everyone was all up in arms about robots taking over jobs in the 80s – like everyone’s job was on the chopping block. Twenty years later we realize that these robots have not taken over all the jobs. [/font]

[font=&quot] [/font]

[font=&quot]I love the Roomba vacuum – I hadn’t heard of it and I thank you for providing a link to it. As for the robotic ball that chases thieves – I love that one too. Although I would like the ball to roll over the thief, cuff him and then take his wallet. Wouldn’t that be great? As for the robot troops. I say lets do it – if it saves some lives why not? The only thing is, we are only saving American lives. [/font]

 

American lives??? You think that Americans are some fucking superior nation or what???

As for the robotic ball that chases smokers – I love that one too. Although I would like the ball to roll over the smoker, cuff him and then take his weed. Wouldn’t that be great?[font=&quot]
[/font]