Robots have
become very popularized in digital media, mainly movies and television shows. Many
of these movies convey the need of humanity to develop machines that can
replace humans as a form of labor. Society finds robots appealing because of
their potential to perform tasks that human can do, but in a more efficient
manner, essentially making the progress of humanity more efficient.
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| Rosie in The Jetsons |
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| WALL-E |
These movies and television shows have robots replacing humans labor, allowing humans to direct their time and focus elsewhere.
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| Unmanned Aerial Vehicle |
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| Prosthetic Arm |
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| Auto, rogue AI in WALL-E |
In these movies, there exist robots that have twisted the logic of their hardwire code, leading to a form of independent thinking that puts humanity in harms way. For example, in I, Robot, all robots are hardwire with three laws that must be obeyed in order to ensure the safety of individual humans. However, an AI known as VIKI has convoluted those laws to believe that humanity needs to be protected from themselves and proceeds to imprison humans.
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| I, Robot |
Although this may be a movie, that is not to say that it can not happen. How do we ensure that robots behave only based on how they are programmed? Another opinion against robots is that the development of robots can dilute creativity. Walter Benjamin believed that the technology of photography shatters the “aura” of objects by mass producing it so that it loses its uniqueness and originality. Thus, although there is great appeal of the development of robotics, there are also drawbacks that are not obvious but can make a big impact on society.
Citations
Benjamin, Walter. The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. 1936. Print.
I, Robot. Dir. Alex Proyas. Perf. Will Smith, Bridget Moynahan. 20th Century Fox, 2004. Film.
Kelly, Gavin. "The Robots Are Coming. Will They Bring Wealth or a Divided Society?" The Guardian. 4 Jan. 2014. Web.
Lewis, Colin. "5 Areas in Robotics That Will Transform Society and Their Economic Impact." Robohub. 24 Apr. 2014. Web.
WALL-E. Dir. Andrew Stanton. Perf. Ben Burtt, Elissa Knight. Walt Disney Studios, 2008. Film
Hello Jamieh, I really enjoyed reading your post! I agree with your statement that what makes robots so appealing to us is their ability to perform tasks that we do more efficiently and thereby making our world convenient. I also like how you used "The Jetsons" and "Wall-E" as your examples to show your point. In addition, your examples of real-world robots that allow us to do less work are fascinating. Moreover, your questions led me to think about the possibility of robots thinking on their own...and it was quite scary to actually think about it. Your post was very thought-provoking and it really helped me to understand this week's topic. Great work!
ReplyDeleteHi Jamieh! I actually wrote a bit about the movie I, Robot too. I think it was really interested on how you both used the pop sci idea of a robot take over and the more utilitarian idea of robots working to advance human society at the same time. There's obviously a huge range of discourses around this topic and the trade offs between artificial intelligence and robot overlords :). But still, robot overlords, like you said, so far have only ever happened in the movies and in books, but the benefits that robots have brought to society (artist included) are certainly real and can be felt everyday from the cars we drive to whom (or what) really drives them!
ReplyDeleteLate to the party, but I'll throw in my $0.02. I liked how you initially stated positive representations of AI in popular media, then switched gears and talked about media that delved into the potential hazards of AI. I would have liked to see a bit more analysis of this bipolar representation in art, for instance where do the creators of WALL-E stand on this considering they have both representations in their film? Regardless, good post.
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