Robotics Reference
In-Depth Information
explained his enthusiastic support of Harkins' views thus:
Robots may soon provide humans with a companionship of such
high quality that it will change our lives. There are a lot of areas
about robotics that people avoid talking about. A robot as a com-
panion. A robot as a best friend. A robot as a lover. These are
things that are in the backs of people's minds, but they don't want
to open a discussion on them. Yet we know that there are just an
incredible number of lonely people out there. Really lonely people.
We are a lonely society. We are a society in need of stimulation.
And we turn to the most bland things you can think of. We've
got people fixated on soap operas just to give them some kind of
stimulation.
When they find an intelligent machine such as a robot that can
converse with them, that can stimulate them, that can give them
a backrub—and I have to stop almost at that one. Most people
in this country are so malnourished when it comes to personal at-
tention: getting a neck rub, a back rub, somebody there to soothe
them, to be with them, that when they see the opportunity that a
robot gives them, the luxury that it gives, I think they will be more
than accepting. [10]
Otto was so convinced that Harkins was right in predicting human-robot
marriages that when the media bombarded Harkins with requests for in-
terviews, many of which were on TV talk-shows with a phone-in audi-
ence, Otto agreed to reduce Harkins' work load by taking on some of the
interviews himself, and
...As people called in, we found that invariably, once they got
over their initial shock, their next question was always consistent:
“Where do I get one?” [10]
How Robots Will Be Programmed to Love
Having read this far, you should be able to accept the possibility that
robots can think and display their emotions, simulated or otherwise.
If not, I suspect your disbelief is born more of a dislike for the idea
rather than because you have analysed the processes of the mind that
enable humans to enjoy something or to be in love. When we talk of
robots being in love what we mean is that the robot behaves as though
it is in love and, influenced by the robot's behaviour, humans and other
robots will perceive it as being in love. As with so many other facets
