Week 3: Robotics + Art


Ever since the creation of the printing press, which facilitated the spread of information and knowledge, eventually leading to the enlightenment, machines have helped our society tremendously and have developed our world to where it is today.

The printing press

The computer was a technological and mechanical breakthrough for machines, because up until then, machines had mainly done physical labor for humans with the printing press and assembly lines. With the arrival of computers, however, machines began to do mental work for humans, calculating and figuring out solutions for mathematical problems. Since then, humans have attempted to bridge the gap between machine and human, giving machines more and more functions that humans can do, and even giving them human-like features, in the case of many modern-day robots.

Freerk Wieringa's "Android/Humanoid" machine

This can be seen in several artists today, who have combined the mechanical and human realms to see if robots or machines can mimic the behavior of humans. Arthur Ganson's work of "Child Watching Ball" and "Machine with Abandoned Doll" showcase this, as does Freerk Wieringa, creating a "Android/Humanoid" machine, where the robot is designed to mimic the movements of a human wearing an accompanying exoskeleton.

The next step that researchers are trying to create are robots that learn and are self-aware. Hod Lipson, in his TED Talk, explains how they are experimented with robots to see how they learn and adapt by using evolution as a mechanism. Rodney Brooks, as he's explaining the development of robots that communicate like humans, addresses the question of "Will the robots want to take over eventually?"

The Terminator, a popular science fiction movie

As robots become more human-like, there is this underlying fear in western society that can be seen in many movies, one of the most notable movies being The Terminator. Set in a futuristic world (at the time when the movie came out), robots have become self-aware and have taken over the world, set on destroying humanity because it feels we are inferior to them. As Professor Machiko Kusahara mentions in her lecture, western portrayals of robots are almost entirely negative, mainly focusing on this notion that robots will eventually want to take over the world. However, in Japan, robots are viewed positively, as a helper to humans. As we continue to develop these robots, it will be interesting to see how the world reacts to their increasingly human-like features.


Sources
  • "Relating the Rapidly Changing Present to the Distant Past as Far as Book History is Concerned." Jeremy Norman's HistoryofInformation.com. Jeremy Norman & Co., Inc., 6 Aug. 2011. Web. 21 Apr. 2017.
  • "Machines Portfolio." Arthur Ganson. Arthur Ganson, n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2017.
  • "Androïde / Humanoïde." Freerk Wieringa. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2017.
  • Lipson, Hod. Hod Lipson: Building "self-aware" robots. TED Conferences, LLC, Mar. 2007. Web. 21 Apr. 2017.
  • Brooks, Rodney. Rodney Brooks: Robots will invade our lives. TED Conferences, LLC, Feb. 2003. Web. 21 Apr. 2017.
  • Robotics MachikoKusahara 1. UC Online Program, 14 Apr. 2012. Web. 21 Apr. 2017.

Comments

  1. UnknownApril 22, 2017 at 11:23 PM

    Hi Sarah, I think it is very interesting that robots can be viewed both in a positive and negative light as they are growing to be more self-aware and with humanoid tendencies. The advancement of technology from the printing press to technology such as these amazes me, which brings me to ponder on what the future will look like if technology continues to progress at this rate. Years from now, there could very well be humanoid robots walking alongside humans in their daily lives. I agree with the main question of how humans will react to such an advancement. I personally believe that humans will be scared of robots gaining humanoid characteristics both internally and externally. As some movies have portrayed, such as The Terminator, these robots could be a threat so society, and being the paranoid race that we are, I believe that mistrust and anxiety among humans will cause people to discourage robotic advancements. Though Japan currently views robots in a positive light, underlying feelings of survival of the fittest will come to the surface if/when robots start becoming sentient enough to become a threat to humankind.

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