Robots who heal.
Robots who kill.
Robots who love.
Robots that swim, crawl, fly, swarm, spy or morph into other kinds of robots.
The robot revolution has arrived and we are collectively watching the very beginning of what will be a seachange in technology.
Scientists are quantifying and reproducing our intellect and our senses; breaking down the components of taste, touch, hearing, sight and even thought. We are seeing the very beginning of a robot revolution where A.I. will communicate, learn and adapt to humanity to meet our emotional needs. And in the process, change us completely.
By observing the natural world, roboticists are designing machines that mimic birds, butterflies, dragonflies, snakes, jellyfish and octopus. Those machines could innocently vacuum your house, defuse a bomb or assassinate a troublesome enemy.
In your home, robots will be available to cook, comfort, converse, teach and make love to you. They will strain the imaginations of scientists and futurists as they upend economics, job markets and social traditions. Robots will transform exploration, war and religion. The very existence of artificial intelligence will reframe the definition of life.
There will be questions, terrible, mind-bending questions about ethics, human rights, sexuality and slavery. Writers will act as emissaries of the human spirit, as philosophers and psychopomps that connect humanity to its unconscious fears and desires. At its best, science fiction makes humanity cognizant of critical moral obligations, revealing the dark or bright path. Orwell showed us a future of oppression and totalitarian rule, Star Trek proposed a future of reasoned space exploration, and Star Wars explored the depths of human depravity and what it means to be a hero.
If you imagine that writers are unimportant in this equation, consider words and phrases like big–brother, android and warp drive. Writers can frame the pitfalls and potential of technology and inspire the human spirit to take a higher path.
Here are some of the amazing robots under development:
Amy Eyrie says
I like your proposition, Asimov would approve.
Rikkert Hoffmann says
Lazy, lazy, lazy.. One’s body is a temple and one’s house and belongings an extension of that temple. Take care of your own shitpile. If some-body wants to help you clean house: FINE. If not: do not make them clean your house. That is simply a ARTIFICIAL FORM of SLAVERY.
Here is a proposition:
Make these artificial beings and give them free will. Let them make up there own mind. 🙂