Humanoid robot: How realistic is it?

With the virtual assistant Assistant of Google was able to make calls in the name of people, and games, movies depicting humanoid robots like the citizens in society became more and more, the line between machines and people are frighteningly erased.

According to Anh TheGuardian newspaper, when our dependence on technology is getting bigger and bigger, and the consequences that it brings start to appear, from destroying privacy to making our own thoughts suffer. It is also when we realize a familiar "story" in films, games, or science fiction novels: the rise of robots. A new wave of TV shows, movies, and games is asking what will happen if we develop technologies to create machines that represent our own image?

Images in Detroit: Become Human.

The Westworld series describes a frightening prospect that if we can develop robots that look like real people, we might want to do something uninteresting to them just to satisfy the desire to entertain. of human. In Blade Runner 2049 , robots have replaced people working in red light streets as well as in manual labor. And most recently, in Detroit: Become Human games , robots are also taking care of children, the elderly, and even a music star, everywhere in the home and outside of society.

The current wave of sci-fi works focuses on figuring out what will happen when the line between people and machines is blurred. Then, will robots deserve their own benefits: when they reach a certain level of intelligence, or when they develop the ability to express emotion, creativity, or free will? During the cold war, when we still believe that machines can kill humans at any time by launching nuclear missiles, the robots that most haunt us are the killing machines that are not as abominable as The Terminator or RoboCop - or the emotionless military robots that hunt down the last remnants of humanity in Metalhead, a recent episode of the Black Mirror. Now, when technology has attached itself to human life, we suddenly realize that machines don't always have to kill to control, they have another way: to integrate with humanity. .

Buying and selling Detroit care robots: Become Human

Just a few weeks ago, Google demonstrated the ability of the family assistant robot I developed. If you've watched the video of that performance, you can see the robot calling a haircut or booking a restaurant, with the occasional talk of words like "um" and "ah" to make The person on the other end thinks I'm talking to the real person!

We are increasingly worried that what will happen if machines become like ourselves? Adam Williams, a Detroit: Become Human writer, thinks that the development of very human emotions on robots is much more worrying than the idea of ​​villainous robots who just go to kill. people "It is a threat to an inviolable area of ​​humanity" - he said - "Emotion is something we keep to ourselves: emotional depth is what we use to If a machine has the ability to sense, it will not only be dangerous according to Terminator style, but also in the abstract sense of affecting our thinking with personality of "orthodox" people.

In the game mentioned above, the house maid robots are treated badly by humans who start rebelling, joining together to ask for the right to be granted. This is not uncommon, but these video games are so realistic that they can be an effective test to see if you are comfortable with the idea of ​​a human-like robot. The characters in the game, controlled by real people, are really difficult to distinguish.

Anouk van Maris, a robotic cognitive expert who is studying ethical interaction between people and machines, has discovered that our comfort levels with robots are varied based on region and culture."It depends on what you expect. Some people like it, some quite want to run away as soon as it starts to move," she said. "The advantage of a human-like robot is that people will feel comfortable. it's more easy to be close to them, and it's easier to communicate with them, too.

Azuma - a robot assistant in hologram form developed by Japanese company.

In Japan, where spiritual beliefs make people more comfortable with the idea that souls can exist inside non-human things, robots have been used as sales assistants, in house care. and in many other cases. Japan is a world leader in the robot industry and there is a high demand for robots that can help reduce the shortage of manpower in nursing care. The country is Erica's hometown, the most authentic female robot in the world that ever existed, and Azuma, a hologram-like robot that combines family assistant functions like Alexa with cute looks.

In Europe, on the contrary, people are often uncomfortable with the idea that robots perform roles that require interaction with humans."In one study, people were asked if there was a robot interacting with children, and that child became familiar with it, it could be morally accepted" - Van Maris said. - "Only 40% think it's acceptable". It is thought that American companies intentionally designed family assistant robots that looked like black boxes and spoke like computers.

"A machine can express human-like qualities and still not cause controversy if it doesn't look like a human being," Wiliams said. "That's interesting. What makes people panic about the job." Google Assistant's call is that it sounds like a human being, the fact that it can make a conversation does not scare people - they fear that they cannot distinguish it from real people. "

A scene from the movie Ex Machina

Some robotic experts, including Robert Fisher at the University of Edinburgh, commented that the concept of human-like robot is a silly thing."I don't think artificial intelligence will be able to be human," Fisher said. "We put ourselves and them in a difficult situation when we try to pretend that they are human, or make them look like us. Maybe it's better not to try that. The . sex robots are probably the only case that gives us a reason to create human-like robots. "