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Week 8 (11.05-17.05) Will robots dominate our lives?

Recently new films concerning artificial intelligence dominating human’s life have started to appear. In contrast to the movies from the 70s and 80s, they do not present a threat to the mankind any longer, as it was for example in 2001: A Space Odyssey or in Terminator, which was also perfectly designed killing machine.

The subject returns in a less aggressive form, but it’s still focused on human possibilities and aspirations for creating our artificial copies. A good example is Transcendence movie, in which the human’s mind is copied to the memory of an advanced computer, or Her which is a disturbing vision of a human-like emotional bond between a man and personal operating system.

Especially interesting becomes a robotic thread. In Chappie we can again observe a robot equipped with consciousness, instead of being aggressive he manifests itself by acts of creation. Similarly in Interstellar, the conscious and intelligent robots become friendly and equal members of the crew of the space shuttle.
Science fiction often inspired scientists to new discoveries - that’s why it’s important to check and compare how the scientists predict our future assisted by intelligent machines. In the scientific approach there is another definition of intelligence – in contrast to the vision of human copy presented in films, scientists try to create much less complex systems based on the behavior of animals. Artificial intelligence is no longer seen as an imitation of a man, like it was in the 1950s, but rather as an effective problem-solving machine. Robots equipped with this kind of intelligence can be extremely efficient support human life.

This kind of vision shares for example Rodney Brooks – a roboticist from MIT, one of the founders of the famous Roomba. Based on observations in biology Brooks is currently working on Baxter. The robot that can adapt to environment  around and express his feelings.

Here is a very interesting Brooks’s lecture on TED:

Another perfect example of a project based on studies in the field of human behavior is Leonardo. It is an empathetic robot, for old people. Leonard also was created at MIT.
Similar approach to the problem presents Guy Hoffman – a designer who wanted to create a robot based on animated Pixar’s lamp.

In this video you can see how this lamp reacts in a very emotional way in a response to the events that took place around.

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_%28robot%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chappie_%28film%29

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baxter_%28robot%29

Comments

Unknown said…
As far as my opinion is concerned, I think that one day robots will have a big impact on our lives. We could make use of robots because they could take over some of our daily activities from us. For instance, they could clean our homes or do grocery shopping. In my opinion that would be very convenient for us and it could save our time.
However, on the other hand unwise development of artificial intelligence can entail dire consequences. Scientists try to create a conscious life that will be treated like an object, not like a human being. We know it well from history that unfair and unequal treatment of thinking persons never went well. We can hope that robots will not want to monger and they will not wage war with humans. We should be very careful when we try “to play God”.
Unknown said…
I find this article to be the most interesting one of these weeks posts (and the easiest to comment on). I really love science fiction movies and all sorts of technological news. Movies often were and still are an inspiration for real inventions and I just love that kind of stuff.

I saw "Chappie". It wasn't the best movie but it has shown some interesting ideas and I liked the design of the robot. Oh, and I really like the movie "Her", it's a good example. I also recommend watching a recent movie "Ex machina", it's a good one too.

I think it's highly possible that within our lifetime robots could became necessary everyday "objects". There already are fully automated restaurants ( http://singularityhub.com/2013/01/22/robot-serves-up-340-hamburgers-per-hour/) but in my opinion robotics will become a vital part of society and just as Dominika said robots can take over some jobs and chores. I truly hope I will be able to experience some ground breaking inventions and discoveries. True AI still seems a bit unrealizable to me, but I hope that we'll get there one day (hopefully soon enough for us to see).

Some interesting links I would like to share.

Here you can see an article about robots that invented their own language. There are not the first language creating robots, but I couldn't find a documentary I once saw about that.
http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/artificial-intelligence/lingodroid-robots-invent-their-own-spoken-language

And a short video of them communicating:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhUOUaSNP3w#t=17

And here is another video about a different robot:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OC2TTslf_YM
Unknown said…
We're getting closer to fully give up on doing anything without the use of the technology. I have to agree that it's really comfortable when it comes to for instance computerised departments (isn't that cool that we no longer have to wait in the queues, at the end to find out that we've got to visit few other places to collect all the required documents? Now all the papers are in the database so the formalities are way easier to be done). On the other hand I can't stand that all the people are using their smatphones all day long! I can count on the fingers of only one hand people without any tablet/smartphone/notebook in hand in public transport. People miss so many things because of the constant looking at the screens. The technological progress only proves the laziness of the society. Currently robots help us out of so many duties that in the future we won't be needed to do anything on this planet. We'll be just sitting on the couch and instead of travelling somwhere, we'll be just watching it on the super modern screen, instead of real friends we'll just meet with robots.
I think that as always finding a golden mean should be our priority.
Unknown said…
I didn’t watch “Chappie” but I will definitely do it soon. Nowadays there are plenty examples of robots that help us in many ways in our life. Our school has robots too. I think that robots are really needed nowadays. Mostly they are really effective in medicine.
Unknown said…
It’s inevitable that we’ll be living around robots. We have natural tendency to make our life easier and taking an advantage of robotics is the smartest idea. I’m really excited about future approach of building robots which will be behaving in more natural way. I look forward to having an opportunity to play around with new hardware neural network simulators.
Unknown said…
I think there will always exist a tiny line between humans and computers/machines/robots/androids. If we define "robots" as "computers" or "machines" they already did dominate our lifes. We can't live without technology any more.
Marcin Lyzwa said…
Your comment about robots that are able to do grocery shopping remind me about one of the previous article on this blog.
Maybe you remember "Dangers around the Internet of Things". I think it could be even more dangerous than AI.
Do you really think artificial intelligence could be dangerous for humanity? I'm wondering if isn't just the vision taken from the movies? Don't you think?
I've never heard about scientists who are trying to create some kind of conscious life, could you give an example?
Marcin Lyzwa said…
Thank you, I'll for shure watch "Ex machina" soon.
WOW that lingodroids are pretty amazing. R2D2 in real life :)
I've never heard about those robots, but now I'm thinking that it could be a new approach to study basis of human language and communication.
Until now, I knew that there were experiments focused on artificial evolution in robots and IT.
But now it seems to me that this is just another step in enlarging our knowledge about humans through robotics.
Marcin Lyzwa said…
Well, I cannot fully agree with you. For me it's also disturbing that people are using their smartphones all the time - in the past people can have some conversations even in the public transport.
Right now we are constantly focused on our small, virtual worlds. But i'm also thinking, that during XX century there were a lot of great inventions but people are still moving from one place to another- it seems to me, that just now we can travel wherever we want. Imagine a washing machine that can recognize is empty or not, and can do a laundry by itself.
Then we will have enormously more free time.
Marcin Lyzwa said…
Yes, I also think that in medicine robots are the most needed. I hope that also in Poland surgeons will appreciate their precision even more. have you heard about latest achievement: http://www.medicaldaily.com/pulse/tiny-robot-uses-da-vinci-surgical-system-grape-illustrates-future-medicine-333550 ?
With the advancement of technology, there are more and more professions that do not require human presence. Robots and machines already replace humans in some areas for instance in the production lines in factories. It is certain that in the future another professions will be performed by faster then humans robots that do not need breaks.

Scientists have for years performed strenuous work to build a robot that could, although in a small percentage, give complexity of the human personality. The goal which guided groups of researchers is to build a perfect being who could surpass man, both psychologically and physically. At present, the dream remains to build such a construct, devoid of all human flaws, perfect in every way.

Over the years we will have to deal with a situation that you will not know whether the person you are talking to is really a man. Nowadays, we are able to create an artificial internal organs successfully replacing the human, such as an artificial heart. Perhaps in time the human mind will be able to create something as complex as our brain.
Unknown said…
Oh, and by the way I don't know if you saw Star Wars celebrations but they've shown BB8 and it looks and moves great! I really like that robot even though it's made just for movie purposes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_K10fX9DSY
MartaSB said…
I believe robots can (or will be able to) perform almost any work, both useful and not, but this technology is used on a larger scale only if it is viable. Some great solutions can stay unnoticed because they won't have a sponsor or they would generate more loss than profit.
I like the idea of replacing human labor where it is possible, but the government should also think about supporting workers who loose jobs during company transformation. I hope all new technologies will be used reasonably and that they will benefit the society and not do it harm.
Unknown said…
Sometimes I'm really scared when I think about robots and how much things are depending nowadays on machines, artificial intelligent, electricity, robots... I think that none of us can imagine a normal life without electricity, or solutions that have already be invented to make our lives easier. That's quite normal, that people are trying to discover brand new things, to make our lives easier and easier, but I wonder where is this leading to...
Few months ago I have seen a video with Japanese human robot, unfortunately I can't find a video right now, but the robot was EXTREMELY REALISTIC... I only wonder what are they doing it for? Who need a robot who is pretending to be a real person? It frightens me somehow :D

Lately I also have seen a animated movie called "Big hero 6" and it was also convey this subject. It is a story for children and of course there must be some good and bad character, but I think it is exactly the same in a real life. We can use robots for good things, but also for bad ones. But the technology is getting more and more complicated and powerful and I wonder how it's gonna be, when this technology get out of control one day... :P
Marcin Lyzwa said…
Good sponsorship is very important for inventors and their ideas.
I'm afraid of other thing, what would happen if owners for more and more income replace employees on cheaper robots ? If it does not increase unemployment not only in the poorest countries like China, India or even in Poland ?
Marcin Lyzwa said…
I haven't seen this video before, thank you. Films like Star Wars, Star Trek, generally speaking Sci-Fi might be very inspiring for young people who in the future will create more sophisticated robots.
I think robots can be extremely useful, and the technology they provide will make our lives not only easier, but also more pleasant. I've seen several episodes of "Through the Wormhole" on Discovery Channel concerning robots and artificial intelligence. I think it's amazing how the technology develops - in one of the episodes, they showed robots that can learn just like a child - it takes an object, asks about its name, and tries to do different things with it - open it, rotate it, shake it, etc, until it discovers what purpose the object serves. It's not AI yet, of course, but it's a good start :)

As to the sci-fi movies you've mentioned, I haven't seen Chappie, but in the newest Avengers film - Age of Ultron - there is an interesting tendency: one robot with artificial intelligence is evil, the other one is good. I think it shows that people are not so scared of technology anymore, and that's a good thing. I'm really fed up with "We Made A Robot And Now It Tries To Exterminate The Human Race" type of movies. They only make naive people excessively afraid of technology.
I also think that fear of AI is overexaggerated because of sci-fi movies. It's really funny how 90% of the moviemakers believe that once we create artificial intelligence, it will inevitably destroy the human race because... of something. No one really knows what that "something" is.

However, Marcin, there are LOTS of examples of scientists trying to create some form of consciousness, by creating artificial intelligence! In my previous comment, I mentioned 'Through the Wormhole' - if you're interested in that topic, I really recommend you the episode about AI. Scientist try to imitate human brain all the time! However, it's an extremely hard process, because the functioning of human brain is not yet fully understood by science. When we achieve that knowledge and have enough computing power to implement our findings, however, it may become possible :)
Jakub, I can't agree technology is so bad as you picture it. Of course, some people overexploit it, but it is extremely helpful AND it can be bonding as well. You can talk to your friends on the internet, even if they are on the other side of the globe. You can send them anything. You can chceck if they're okay. It's not like all that people do on the web is stare at the cat videos :)
Unknown said…
I like the idea of constant development, technology really do change our lives. How many people would be dead now if there wasn't so many essential machines in hospitals? The technology in medicine plays a huge role, we would be so vulnerable if there wasn't this huge technological progress. As always everything has its disadvantages. I think that people waste too much of their time on using the computers in such a worthless way. The social cohesion is being ruined by the computers. Maybe not by them, but the wrong way of using them. We don't ask strangers about way anymore, we just simply use gps. We don't hold talks in public transport, we put our headphones on. We don't bother anyone and therefore we miss so many opportunities to meet someone new and interesting.
Julia Osiak said…
I'm pretty skeptical about this subject. The impact that robots and AI have on our lives today is still not as significant as in most of the sci-fi movies and I hope that it'll stay that way for now. I'm afraid that with more technology the interactions and relations between people will diminish and this scares me more than the thought of robots taking control over the world.
rf. said…
Will robots dominate our lives? I wouldn't say dominate but as you mentioned in the article and from what we can see in the comments below it, robotics is already upon us and with a much bigger impact than we might have anticipated. Often we don't even suspect some process to be automatized or how much work is actually done by robots. AI is designed by people, so it's capabilities cannot really surpass ours. What I mean is when we think about deductive thinking, the operations done on the processor are a set of logical predicaments. The thing is, technology is not flawless and sometimes errors occur. Let's just assume that a lighting struck somewhere near the future supercomputer and changes some value from 0 to 1...
Unknown said…
I'm quite cautious about robots, but I also believe that sooner or later they're going to be necessary in our lives. Actually such technology is already irreplacable in some fields. Of course I don't believe in all these robot rebellions stories, but I understand why such stories are created. I'm quite afraid of stuff like Boston Dynamics' BigDog or WildCat (I'm sure you saw this, but here their Youtube just in case: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7vVhkEfw4nOGp8TyDk7RcQ) – when I saw them the first time I really freaked out. There's something creepy in them that makes me (and not only me) uneasy, and that's not the annoying sound they make. I guess this has something to do with the uncanny valley.

To be honest, your presentation gave me a few reasons to be more positive about this subject. :) I've watched the TED videos you posted, and they were great. I'm really impressed by Guy Hoffman's work and I love how both of these scientists took a different perspective.
Michal Kulesza said…
I agree with you, Piotr. Our lives are dominated by the artificial intelligence but it doesn't mean it's dominated by robots :)
Michal Kulesza said…
Medicine robots are needed, but some people are afraid to use them because of ... hackable software.
There is great article on security flaws: http://www.washington.edu/news/2015/05/07/uw-researchers-hack-a-teleoperated-surgical-robot-to-reveal-security-flaws/
Unknown said…
The development of robotics and artificial intelligence can bring huge benefits to society. Medicine is one area that is associated with artificial intelligence a lot of hope. Already, IBM's Watson supercomputer is better than doctors in diagnosing cancer. You can read about this here. Of course robotics and artificial intelligence is used in all sectors of the economy. I recently read that it is estimated that approximately 70-80% of operations on the stock exchanges commissioned by programs supported by artificial intelligence.

AI and robots is a great opportunity for humanity, but also be aware of the risks posed by the development of these areas.
Chappy is amazing film, with unexpected end. That’s interesting idea, that human created intelligence robot and the robot opened secret of human mind.
I had a chance to play with robotic hands and program it. After learning programing principle, I can say that virtual intelligence is really-really possible! On the other hand we use only 6-10% of our brain potential, what happened if somebody use 100%? Now imagine clever robot with human brain used for 100% or maybe even more! That’s not a fantasy, that’s our future days but no one can’t predict what happened if it becomes the true.
We are already leaving with robots, but they are not as clever as we can see in films.
The idea is pretty scary for me, what if they will gain control oer us?:P
Unknown said…
Even now robots have a huge impact on our lives. Maybe it's not like in the new Avengers movie when a robot decides that he knows what's best for humanity and starts his own mission, but metaphorically speaking, we can't live without some inventions. Recently I've been wondering how our lives would look like without electricity for example. Some might say that our ancestors didn't have electricity and still they survived, but "you cannot miss what you have never had". Now we wouldn't be able to get fresh water or - in some cases - get inside our own houses! We are so dependable on electronic devices that in my opinion they somehow already control our lives. This is scary. But on the other hand why not use something that makes our lives so comfortable? I think that the best solution is to know how to use these inventions but also know and learn how to get around without them.
IzabelaSzumen said…
I'm not an enthusiast about the idea, in my opinion people these days are enough far from each other, looking in to theirs smartphones all the time even when we are in social situations. Also I have always in my mind this scary story from Japan about automatic arm to hug you at night.
http://justsomething.co/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/crazy-japanese-inventions-9.jpeg
It's not exactly a empathetic robot, but it's sad enough for me.
The constant and extremely fast improvement of technology is both extraordinary and worrisome.
The thing is, will our society be able to adapt in time to change that technology can (and eventually will) impose on the world?
Not only machines can do more and more work making human workers obsolete, but with every year they become more interconnected and self-sufficient.
I'm not necessarily talking about them taking over the world! Still, the newest inventions may significantly impact how we live and how we perceive reality.

Who would've thought 50 years ago that we will be able to communicate with people all over the world in an instant? The internet itself made a huge difference of how we live today.

And as to the dangers, there's an interesting little article with Hawking, where he talks about his fear of AI. Take a look!

http://www.businessinsider.com/stephen-hawking-on-artificial-intelligence-2015-5
Marcin Lyzwa said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Marcin Lyzwa said…
Japan is a state of mind, they always create the weirdest things, have the most craziest ideas. So it doesn't surprise me they created extremely realistic robot.
Making our entire technology dependent on electricity is the weakest part. I'm almost sure, technology won't get out of control :)
Marcin Lyzwa said…
Have you heard about IBM SyNAPSE chip ? It is hardware chip that allows to load trained neural network which responds in real time. Other very interesting IBM cognitive system is Watson. I really recommend you to read about it: http://www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/us/en/ibmwatson/
Below is very interesting film about Watson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCOhyaw5bwg
Unknown said…
Robots can be dangerous if they become more intelligent, they can turn against people, so we should be really careful with them. Of course if we use them right, they can be very helpful to us.
Marcin Lyzwa said…
In my opinion talking about consciousness is a bit to much. Scientists still have no idea what is human consciousness. I haven't seen 'Through the Wormhole' yet, I'll watch it soon.
Did you mean about Human Brain Project when you wrote your comment ?
Marcin Lyzwa said…
I really don't know why many of you are afraid robots ? I think this is vision created by Hollywood - it sells good. There is slight difference between robot and intelligent, consciousness, thinking machine.
Marcin Lyzwa said…
Wait, what ? Our lives are dominated by the artificial intelligence ? Could you explain your comment ? I don't feel dominated by the artificial intelligence :)
I like the idea of more advanced AI and robots. I'm not an expert in that field but as far as I know we are really far from creating an actual conscious robot. However, I think that it's good that computers replace humans in activities to which they are basically better suited. Their main advantage is that they don't make mistakes (if their program is correct) and they don't get bored, don't get tired and don't ignore their duties like many people do.
In a way you can say that they are much more responsible than humans even without understanding the concept of responsibility.
I think that the appearance of conscious computers would change much in our society. It would require a lot of changes and I think that we would need to respect their rights and no longer treat them like tools. The transition may be very difficult, but I think it wouldn't need to come to violence like many people fear.
Unknown said…
Don't they already? Maybe not in a direct way and for sure not in a humane like form and without sophisticated artificial intelligence but I believe they dominate us right now. Do you imagine your day without a morning coffee? I make mine in a coffee machine and after I drink it I put used cup to the dish washer. You can ask are those two machines robots? I would say yes, the are robots. Very specialized ones but still. Another kind of robots which you don't use directly but without which your life would be much different are production line robots. Almost every car, tram, train, fridge, computer, dish washer or coffee machine is build by robots and without them some things would be extremely more expensive and others could render impossible to build, computers for example. Wait... are robots building robots? Yes, they are. Kinda Matrix, right?
Unknown said…
I don't believe that someday conquer the world or something like that. It is still to early to talk about that. But I can imagine robots dominating our lives, e.g. nowadays robots occupies more and more workplaces, so some positions become unnecessary and people have to retrain and look for another job.
Marcin Lyzwa said…
If we look at the topic like you did, yes we are already dominated by robots, I agree. But talking about robots I mean a bit more sophisticated ones like those created by Boston Dynamics. That what they are doing is really Matrix.
I don't think robots will dominate us unless their developers will make them to, to subordinate other people.
The speaker robot is adorable! I always like robots in the movies The first one I've met was the adorable robot from the Short circuit then the Bishop form Aliens.
I can't wait until robots get more advanced and more human like.
There no possiblity to create fully autonomic robot with current technology and algorithms, we need wait for the next tech revolution, not evolution to might be able to achieve that. There's no worry it will happen soon :(.
Unknown said…
I like the concepts of empathetic robots, that's pretty funny :) Robots definitely should be some kind of support for humans in everyday life. One of them is mentioned Roomba - simple device designed for labour saving. Personally, I wish I have one... Domination of machines in our lives always sounds frightfully and this is still an abstraction for me. I'm sure that one day boundaries between people and robots became blurred. Technology may progress more rapidly, so... who knows?
Unknown said…
Im susprised that you didnt mention about one of the greates robots ever - the da vinci surgery robot and curiosity rover :-) Nowadays robots are very usefull, they accompany us in our lives and help us with almost everything. Robots are used by army (drons etc) and they can be veary deadly tools. But i dont think that they are be able to "dominate" us - because they are unable to make their own decisions - they do what we ask them to do :-)
Unknown said…
I can imagine robots who dominate our lives. With the current progress of science this may be the near future. Currently, robots are very interesting and funny rather not create threat. Robots that we see are rather primitive thinking. I think that in the future robots can be useful but we should use it wisely.

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