Saturday, August 17, 2013
Robots, Robots, Robots
After reading the first five chapters of the book, Alone Together, I noticed the effect of various robotic machines on our daily lives till this day. First, Turkle talks about the thought of Tamagotchis to be real, in which individuals feed and watch over them as they "virtually" grow up. Next, the readers are introduced to the Furbie study where children took care of the robots as if they were pets or even humans. Children felt that it was a goal to achieve and a responsibility as well to teach the Furbies. Then the talk about robotic dogs was later brought into the novel, along with the My Real Baby and robotic babysitter. Lastly, children were set forth to be involved in the study of Kismet and Cog. To be able to connect and be loved by these robots was all that the children wished for from the start. Up to this point in the novel, it is proven that robots are capable of providing psychological and technology support. Through these machines, humans felt as if they had a "true companion" that they could express their feelings towards. Now the question is, what truly defines a companion? Are we better off revealing our thoughts to robots or human beings?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
The difference between what children and adults define as a "true" companion, is dependent on the fact that children are at a developmentally sensitive stage in which they begin learning how to interact. Children will call their toys and imaginary friends true companions if they have trouble connecting with other humans. Most adults would name a couple close friends and perhaps a parent or pet. Children are still vulnerable to criticism, and often want friends that will provide a sense of mutual exclusiveness, acceptance, and truth. Most adults have put in time in all their friendships in order to gain these senses of familiarity. So, developmentally, children are more willing to give in order to find connections, and if their peers are disinterested, they will harbor a hurt and sense of isolation.
ReplyDeleteUltimately, even though revealing one's innermost thoughts and feelings to a robot might provide a sense of relief, it is a false comfort, because robots are made of the same technology as cars, phones, and televisions. Human interaction is irreplaceable because it requires that we learn to understand, listen, and accept others, and it gives us a sense of our placement in the world. Robots, no matter how comforting, cannot teach children empathy, cannot harbor love or understanding, cannot think freely, and in many ways, further isolate children by allowing them to hold humans to the same the standard as robots. That is, the children begin thinking that humans should be one-dimensional, that connections and relationships should be made simply or not at all, and that humans can be used as objects of self-gratification and boosters of self-esteem.