We, as Americans, are always looking for an easier way to do basic everyday things. Robots have been thought of as a way to better the world and our lives. In “Alone Together”, Sherry Turkle talks about her various encounters with our modern day robots. She wrote about a lot of different stories and examples to give you a good idea of the opinions from the people who tested the robots. The chapter I read, “Love’s Labor Lost,” has a few studies describing reactions of robots tested in nursing homes. While some people felt like robots could not substitute for human interaction, the majority of the elderly people in the nursing home enjoyed the company of the robots and even grew attached to them. This sparked a debate among the people.
Turkle
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seems to be using this chapter to inform the audience about the introduction of robots and how they could change the way we live. “Some tried to reassure me that, for them, “caring” meant that machines would take care of us, not that they would care about us” (Turkle 3), is in response to caring machines being introduced in nursing homes and Turkle being unsure about the possible negative consequences of this. Her audience could be anyone, including scientists or engineers who are interested in building robots, or even just the younger generation who will be exposed to this at an earlier age and will shape the future generations and society. In regards to stance, Turkle makes it quite obvious as to how she feels about robots. She states, “If you practice shared “feelings” with robot “creatures”, you become accustomed to the reduced “emotional” range that the machines can offer” (Turkle 12). This basically means that, once we rely on robots as our main companions rather than humans, we start to become less emotional and adapt to the robots level of emotion. This can cause you to pay less attention to your family or care less. The thought of robots being used as a companion can seem like an odd concept.
I think it is a great idea, but it also has some adverse side-effects. If senior citizens in nursing homes no longer feel the need for human interaction, this can create a problem for the family of the elders. Despite the fact that the elders may feel a lot less lonely with a robot companion, human interaction is still important.
One of the most amazing things to me though, was when Turkle talked about the bonds the study participants created with the robots. They treated the robots like people and even gave them names. Many of the participants explained that they talked to the robots and liked how they could tell them private thoughts without being judged. This provided them with an outlet even when they didn’t have any visitors.
Robots have been widely viewed and seen as “the future.” Although they can definitely have their downfalls, robots can change the world as we know it. Providing care for the elderly and sick is just one possibility. Imagining a world filled with robots can be scary, but realizing the potential that can come with that is exciting. Even though it may not happen in the near-by future, robots will make a prominent entrance. We, as the people, have to decide what we want for the future
society.
In the video, the manager of the nursing home featured admitted that the family members of some of the elderly were disconcerted to see that their loved one believed that their robot companion was real. This is a legitimate concern because the members of the family may not want this for their elders. In contrast, these robots are proven to give comfort to those that use them. Elena Shoto conveys that robotic pets “...lowered stress levels and increase happiness.” This may be true, however it does not change the fact that many people are unsettled by robotic toys. As can be seen, they just aren't the same as flesh and blood
The novel, Alone Together: Why We Expect More From Technology and Less From Each Other (2011) written by Sherry Turkle, presents many controversial views, and demonstrating numerous examples of how technology is replacing complex pieces and relationships in our life. The book is slightly divided into two parts with the first focused on social robots and their relationships with people. The second half is much different, focusing on the online world and it’s presence in society. Overall, Turkle makes many personally agreeable and disagreeable points in the book that bring it together as a whole.
Turkle does represent great credibility from the start. First, she is writing for The New York Times, a very well known and well thought of news paper. She always went to Harvard and early on in her article states, “Over the past 15 years, I’ve studied technologies
Schimelpfening, Nancy. Robots for Humanity: Restoring Function to the Disabled Through Technology. 21 December 2013.
Instead, technology is continuously used and the users are so distracted that they do not see any harm being done. Technology is always updating and producing new things, the reason for this is because technology is not perfect. So this means that there is always room for change and improvement. There are still flaws in technology, including things such as printers jamming, internet crashing, and phone calls dropping. Why is it that, even with all of these flaws, people still turn to technology excessively? Turkle talks about people having the desire to have a robotic relationship in place of a real human relationship. She discusses a girl who wanted to “trade in her boyfriend ‘for a sophisticated Japanese robot’ if the robot would produce what she called ‘caring behavior’... She was looking for a ‘no-risk relationship’ that would stave off loneliness.” (Turkle 269-270) This may make you question, the same way that technological devices always need improvement, won’t the robots need improvement at one point. The robot may make a mistake or even be missing the new and improved characteristics of a human being. These characteristics can include the ability to have a meaningful conversation rather than a conversation limited to a scripted vocabulary. The individual’s personal abilities are being limited by dating a robot. A human to human
Bar-Cohen, Yoseph, and David Hanson. The Coming Robot Revolution: Expectations and Fears about Emerging Intelligent, Humanlike Machines. New York: Springer, 2009. Print.
Artificial Intelligence, also known as AI, allows a machine to function as if the machine has the capability to think like a human. While we are not expecting any hovering cars anytime soon, artificial intelligence is projected to have a major impact on the labor force and will likely replace about half the workforce in the United States in the decades to come. The research in artificial intelligence is advancing rapidly at an unstoppable rate. So while many people feel threatened by the possibility of a robot taking over their job, computer scientists actually propose that robots would benefit a country’s efficiency of production, allowing individuals to reap the benefits of the robots. For the advantage of all, researchers and analysts have begun to mend the past ideas of human-robot interaction. They have pulled inspiration from literary works of Isaac Asimov whom many saw as the first roboticist ahead of his time, and have also gotten ideas of scholarly research done by expert analysts. These efforts have began to create an idea of a work force where humans and robots work together in harmony, on a daily basis.
It is not ethical to replace human employees with robotic automation and computer-controlled systems. It is important to be mindful, how and when to use robotic automation as robotic automation is useful, when used sparsely. Robots are a problem for humans because, the technology of robots is becoming smarter, more reliable industrial robots and drones that lead to better factory production. It is often cheaper to buy an industrial robot or program than to train a human worker and pay them for their job. The major cost difference of robotic automation is often a major factor in why human jobs are replaced by robots, as with salary and overall price per employ.
I became bored reading certain parts of the book. I feel like the author could have sequenced it better. The author precedes some chapters or sections with a point and reinforces it with interviews from many research participants and interview quotes. I find myself skipping some parts just because I didn’t want to read every person’s reactions to a new robot, there were just too many. For example, in the book Turkle talks about the robot AIBO (53), and interviews research participants. Most of them reinforce her point: Humans have the possibility of developing some sort of emotional attachment to robot companions. She didn’t have to include all of the research participants’ interviews that she did. Although it is bad to include one interview to prove the point, but there comes a point where it becomes too much, which I ended up skipping. I also did not like the research that was done. There should have been more statistical facts instead of just a few research participants’ interviews and stories. I have a hard time believing that a few people who she researched can be a basis for the trend. I would’ve liked to see more evidence.
abanovi c, S. 2010. Robots in Society, Society in Robots. International Journal of Social Robotics 2 (4): 439-450. Springer. http://www.springerlink.com/ (accessed February 13, 2011).
Scientific progress makes huge milestones toward developing new advanced technologies which are more and more present in human lives. Today robots replace people in many spheres such as health care, security and military, industry, education, entertainment and science. Role of robots becomes more significant because they are able to do the job which people are not able to perform well. Sometimes people are too lazy to do some routine work, due to such situation those tasks could be delegated to machines. People’s life become more technology based what makes demand for efficient robots larger. Engineers say that today robots look like machines, but in near future robots will have more human appearance, today they do some simple job, but in near future much more complicated tasks would be trusted to them. History of robotics goes far to the history when the ancient Greeks describes first devices that people were projected to fly to the sky like birds. In fact, heart of any robot is some program that direct the device and control it actions. Robot cannot perform the tasks that was not programmed in it and this if the factor what makes it quite limited in its actions. Current studies in robotics are aimed to remove those disadvantages and make robots more functional and universal through development of artificial intelligence that can operate independently. Curiosity of world community to robotics increase every day what make all the research and inventions in robotics more demanded. History of robots, resent achievement and future perspectives of robotics have to be studies and researched to understand what machines can give to humanity and what pros and cons exist in the r...
...ings to ignore. For example, they affect the manner in which the brain functions. Robots also affect the social life of people, in society, which has become an ethical issue among many researchers. On the right side, robots also offer security to families and companies and perform duties that are dangerous to human beings. In addition to that, robots are of benefit in the medical field especially to students with disabilities and those awaiting organ transplant procedures. This is where robots help them remain in touch with their friends. However, there are many security concerns in regard of robotic objects, especially when people use them in place of human interactions. However, the coming days may produce advanced robots with sensor-based, animated devices that use expressive sound, light, movement a screens to praise, encourage, advice and comfort human beings.
My biggest concern is that we cannot trust these robots. We all know how technology works these days. Oh wait, it hardly works. There is always something going wrong with technology; you can never rely on it. You want to write a research paper? Well good luck, the internet is most likely bound to be down. Isn’t that what always seems to happen? You never know with technology. Why would people think robots would be any different?...
Robots always had a special place in mankind’s heart. There has always been an aura of mystery and discovery surrounding them. What is a robot? Wikipedia defines it as “an automatically guided machine which is able to do tasks on its own.” That is a good definition of a robot, but there are few exceptions too.
To conclude, robots could be the backbone of the society that will result in a technological revolution. Because of robots various characteristics that do not experience fear, nor exhaustion and they are precisely programmed, which make them able to help in case of need, housework, and factories production. Society needs to put the issue of robots into consideration to satisfy any shortage exists in the world.