Thursday, July 12, 2007

On humanoid robots

Wired magazine recently posted on the robotics world from the viewpoint of the android pursuit. Being typically anthropomorphic, we humans seek like beings in our servile creations. After all, when we see Sir Anthony Hopkins in "Remains of the Day" being such a deft butler, we gravitate toward such paragons in our artificial creations.

It's interesting that Korean robotics professors are in the mix. In TV's M*A*S*H you never really thought about Radar O'Reilly hanging out with mechnical scientists. However, in recent months, a number of my posts on robotics revolved around Korean legislation. For example:


The last one wasn't actually about the Korean laws but it does tie in nicely to the android pursuit subject. Asimo and robots like it are considered -- alongside a bunch of other future-oriented musings.

The main thing that really struck home in the Wired article was the social aspect. I agree with this quote: "Androids also offer something uniquely appealing: companionship, labor and familiarity, but without the human condition's many burdens."

I guess lots of folks just want someone to help them out, be a buddy and never have to deal with their issues...it's that one way street so many people seek in relationships. The android solution is probably seen as a loneliness cure all but, given deeper consideration, it's really just a placebo .

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