The videos this week have really got me thinking about what it means to be human and how we respond to non-humans within our culture. So far we don’t appear to have too much contact with robots in our everyday lives, though this is beginning to change. Many people are beginning to form attachments to their robotic hoovers like Roomba, treating them like pets and often dressing them up in little outfits.
Taking the robot development one step further is the humaniform droid Geminoid who has been built in the image of his creator (God complex??) and looks a little too realistic for comfort. Hiroshi Ishiguro the developer who plans to send the droid to meetings in his stead and speak through him. The droid is very impressive, down to making all those subconscious little hand movements we all make when we speak. Perhaps this is the future – instead of attending meetings we will pack up our droid and courier it to the site instead while we sit our office and watch it all on a video screen.
What I did find interesting was my own reaction to the droid. I was impressed but detached until someone prodded his face and he responded with a look of distaste. At that point I felt like they were being cruel, like poking a puppy which is ridiculous when you consider that he is a machine (and yes I did just call him a ‘he’!). But if a machine looks and behaves like a human, how do we in all conscience treat it with anything other than respect? I think that is root of many of the films we have been watching – with AI, Bicentennial man and I Robot all exploring the ‘humanity in robot form’ theme and how we of flesh and blood can respond with humanity or with detachment, or with fear and loathing. Will we have to have a new class of rights, human, animal and robot?
