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
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.
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
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”.
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
I think that as always finding a golden mean should be our priority.
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?
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.
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.
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.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_K10fX9DSY
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.
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
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 ?
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.
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 :)
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.
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/
AI and robots is a great opportunity for humanity, but also be aware of the risks posed by the development of these areas.
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.
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 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
Making our entire technology dependent on electricity is the weakest part. I'm almost sure, technology won't get out of control :)
Below is very interesting film about Watson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCOhyaw5bwg
Did you mean about Human Brain Project when you wrote your comment ?
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.
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.