An almost-human-looking robot?!?

Discussion in 'Science & Society' started by wesmorrisbabe, Feb 3, 2004.

  1. wesmorrisbabe Ethusiastic bistander Registered Senior Member

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    I thought that this was a cool article.
     
    Last edited: Feb 3, 2004
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  3. BigBlueHead Great Tealnoggin! Registered Senior Member

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    We already have humans... the advances in android design (which are usually slow and haphazard) are of more interest to me with respect to cybernetic/prosthetic development that with respect to the androids themselves.

    People will probably want to be able to design robots to be other than human, much as they have with skins in Quake, The Sims, and so on. IF any functional AI is ever made, which is pretty far off at this time, robots will probably be more like works of art than like replacement people.
     
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  5. guthrie paradox generator Registered Senior Member

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    Works of art? Do you mean a functional practicable art, or an art that marries both funcitonality and actual human beauty?
     
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  7. BigBlueHead Great Tealnoggin! Registered Senior Member

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    Probably a greater degree of beauty than functionality... and they will probably be beautiful by individual human standards, not by their resemblance to humans.

    For instance, I imagine that some people will design their robots to be disturbingly inhuman in their construction and behaviour, for aesthetic reasons.
     
  8. Starthane Xyzth returns occasionally... Valued Senior Member

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    A humanoid machine is certainly possible, but would it really be particularly useful? Being designed and built for specific functions, few robots will need the same number or type of limbs as a human.
     
  9. Clockwood You Forgot Poland Registered Senior Member

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    I have little doubt that some of the first androids will be used for little more than prostitution and stuntwork. Later, once robots of any kind handle most menial labor, we might make them look somewhat human because it would be disturbing not to and because they will need to work with human tools. How do you talk to a robot when you can't make eye contact with it? How does a robot walk up stairs or use an elevator without hominid-type legs and some type of fingers?
     
  10. RonVolk Registered Senior Member

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    I think its more likely Robots will not look human. Its easier to treat something not human looking like a slave. As a machine Robots will most likely be purchased for function not beauty. As far as sexbots are concerned their probably going to be more human than human to satisfy adolesent fantasies.
     
  11. Starthane Xyzth returns occasionally... Valued Senior Member

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    Making robots look human might have unforseen consequences - for example, unless they can duplicate human body language exactly, they will still not seem like people. Perhaps eerily otherwise - if they lack subtle organic behaviourisms, they might seem like walking, talking, dead people. Some humans would thus develop a phobia and irrational hatred of androids.
     
  12. ScRaMbLe Chaos Inc. Registered Senior Member

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    I cant work out which looks creepier, the robot or the guy who made it...
     
  13. Starthane Xyzth returns occasionally... Valued Senior Member

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    If you mean Data from Star Trek and his creator (Doctor Soong), then the maker was certainly more creepy.
     
  14. FNG2k4 Registered Senior Member

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    KITT from knight rider. Beauty. A little cluttered on the dashboard but the car was still sweet.
     
  15. Starthane Xyzth returns occasionally... Valued Senior Member

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    The robot bodyguard Maximillian in the movie "The Black Hole" was a work of art: sleek and imposing, if not in a friendly fashion.
     
  16. John Connellan Valued Senior Member

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    Ha,ha ha. Possibly a new form of racism may appear

    Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

     
  17. Starthane Xyzth returns occasionally... Valued Senior Member

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    And a new civil rights movement - as Dr. Chandra said in 2010: Odyssey 2,

    "Whether we're based upon carbon or silicon, we should all be treated with equal respect."

    I don't suppose a real robot could achieve full citizenship and equality with humans as easily as Johnny Five in "Short Circuit 2!"
     

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