Week 3 "Robotics + Art"

In this week's unit, the topic is based on Robotics and Art. With robotics in mind, it is important to understand that robotics will soon become industrialized for human consumers. In addition, as robotics technology grows, eventually the tech giants will also focus on "art" and how the presentation of their technology is.

For this specific topic, I would like to touch on a movie from quite a while back, i, Robot. This specifically refers to the industrialization of robotics and art. The premise of the movie is based on how a "new" model of robot is replacing previously outdated ones. The new ones not only are shown to be more "efficient" at completing tasks, but present a much more "artistic" aesthetic. While this covers the "art" aspect of the movie's premise, there is also another much more important aspect: society's reaction to the industrialization of robotics.

At first, the main character is against the industrialization of robotics as he thinks they lack the true "moral" judgment of humans and despises how robotics are present in humans' everyday lives. Meanwhile, a majority of the other characters show appreciation and gladly welcome these new robots as personal servants. However, as the plot goes, the robotics eventually revolt and turn on their human owners. While I'm not about to spoil the details of the movie, it is important to note that humans will most likely "accept" the industrialization of a massive "servant force" of robots. Not only do these robots have no right nor are considered living, people will nevertheless gladly welcome that prospect. However, it is important to know that, with the development of robotics and artificial intelligence, it would seem that the robots are likely to act out on their own: looking for their own right or turning on their owners.

Would this be alright if the robot was a real person? No wages, no rights?

With robots being presented as potential "slaves", society will also have people who will stand firm against the use of robots and their industrialization for consumers. As movies such as Blade Runner would suggest, it also seems very possible that robots will turn on humanity as well. Just like the character that Harrison Ford portrays, there will also be eventual supporters of robots.

Think about pollution...

Other than possible ethical concerns, society also has to consider the environmental responsibilities of robotics industrialization. With robots being produced en-mass, it would seem very possible that there would be an enormous amount of pollution emitted in order to power these robots. With the environment as a concern, it could very well elicit a response from society towards robotics and its industrialization. However, if this effect is revered, it could call for an even higher increase of robotics industrialization.

Citations:

• "Crimes of the Hot." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 17 Apr. 2016.
• Ulanoff, Lance. "Big Study Predicts the Winners and Losers of the Robot Revolution." Mashable. 2016. Web. 17 Apr. 2016.
• "Morals and the Machine." The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, 2012. Web. 17 Apr. 2016.
• Nield, David. "This New Robot Eats Water Pollution and Produces Electricity as It Swims." ScienceAlert. Web. 16 Apr. 2016.
• "I, Robot (film)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 17 Apr. 2016.