Go Back   Flash Flash Revolution: Community Forums > General Discussion > Critical Thinking
Register FAQ Community Calendar Today's Posts Search

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 11-17-2004, 02:12 AM   #1
GuidoHunter
is against custom titles
FFR Veteran
 
GuidoHunter's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Texas
Age: 36
Posts: 7,379
Send a message via AIM to GuidoHunter Send a message via Skype™ to GuidoHunter
Default Grace and Robots

Okay, so Honda's ASIMO robot (the one that can climb stairs) recently gave a performance at SMU. I watched it give some very impressive performances, but I noticed something that really piqued my interest...

Whenever ASIMO would do something cool, people would clap.

I asked myself: "Self [inside joke, sorry, but I couldn't resist], why would people clap for a lifeless being who can't appreciate it?" I came up with a couple possible reasons:
  1. People are gracious by nature, and feel they need to clap when something is impressive. Often, this is done without question. That is to say, the audience saw something that was worthy of applause, so they gave it; the fact that the robot couldn't appreciate it didn't cross their mind.
  2. People applaud the people behind the action. That is, they are giving their admiration to those that gave the object to them to admire, i.e. the scientists and engineers who designed the robot.

Now, I belong in the second group. At first, I didn't want to clap because that's like praising a rock, but then I got to thinking about where the hard work came from, and had no problem giving my props to the designers who were behind the scenes.

However, that didn't keep my gracious nature from wanting to clap for the robot because, well, it did something cool, but I knew that I would just feel stupid if I did so. Which brings me to my point...

If these ASIMO robots spread into the home market and acted as personal helpers to those in need (for the sake of the scenario, that means you), how would you act toward your personal robot?

Say you asked/told your robot to bring you a drink. You wouldn't think of insulting a human being by not recognizing their selfless effort to help you when you need it and thanking them (okay, so maybe some of you would, but bear with me), so why go around your natural inclination to say "Thank you" to a humanoid robot? Of course, a human would have a genuine response to your words or silence, whereas a robot won't care either way (I'm sure there are programs to recognize thanks, but ultimately it just boils down to a set of processes; the CPU doesn't care about what you say).

So, would you treat it as another human around the house, or as a personal tool? Personally, I would find it much more difficult to not treat it with respect, but my pride as an intelligent being would definitely get in the way of treating it as an equal. After all, we are superior, aren't we?

Now consider this: What if the robot talked to you in a human-like voice? It would certainly be easier to just order it around if it never uttered a sound, but if it understood commands and responded, would you feel any different towards it? If, when you said "Thank you" it would respond with "You're welcome", when you said "Please" it would say "It would be my pleasure", or even if it asked politely for something when it needed it (hey, robots need maintenance, too), would you want to talk to it as if it were human? Even with simple "Hello"s and "Good-bye"s I would be torn by my desire to be compassionate and my pride.

So, I ask you now: What would you do, and why?

--Guido

http://andy.mikee385.com
__________________

Quote:
Originally Posted by Grandiagod View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by Grandiagod View Post
She has an asshole, in other pics you can see a diaper taped to her dead twin's back.
Sentences I thought I never would have to type.
GuidoHunter is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-17-2004, 09:24 AM   #2
Tasselfoot
Retired BOSS
Retired StaffFFR Simfile AuthorFFR Veteran
 
Tasselfoot's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Widget Heaven
Age: 36
Posts: 25,184
Send a message via AIM to Tasselfoot Send a message via MSN to Tasselfoot Send a message via Skype™ to Tasselfoot
Default RE: Grace and Robots

we can only talk hypothetical, since none of us has ever had an AI assistant... but, i would imagine that i would say Thank You. it is so ingrained in my mind to say thank you whenever a service is performed for me, that its second nature. it would be very difficult to get away from that behavior.

i'm not sure about the hellos and the goodbyes. that seems to be stretching it a little bit. i am sure many people would buy robots purely for the purpose of having a companion, so therefore it would be treated as a human. you talk to a dog or a cat, right? they aren't going to respond.

Asimov is the only author i've read who deals with robots, but in his Robots series, the majority of the interactions with the robots is extremely civil, includes thank yous, yet still treats the robots as servents and not equals. i would imagine that i would treat robots similarly to how they are treated on the Outer Worlds in the Robots series.
__________________
RIP
Tasselfoot is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-17-2004, 12:12 PM   #3
blahblah18
FFR Player
 
blahblah18's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: NOW BLAHTOPIA
Posts: 1,662
Send a message via AIM to blahblah18
Default RE: Grace and Robots

well if the AI were built to recognize praise and civilities, then I would use them becuase it would make a difference to it... very stretchy anthropmorphizing there, don't get into a how human are robots debate, I wasn't trying to go there...If it coulnd' trecognize it and only did the tasks you told it, then I wouldn't say thank you or hello to it, becuase its definately the creators people weer applauding
__________________
but for now... postCount++

blahblah18 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-17-2004, 01:14 PM   #4
IronMonk
FFR Player
 
Join Date: Nov 2003
Posts: 155
Default RE: Grace and Robots

personally speaking i doubt i would use please and thank you to the robot, if it was humanoid in shape maybe, but only because i would do it without thinking, it drives me insane when people talk to dogs or cats like they are humans, espessially when they start baby talking animals.
__________________
Towles may be harmfull when swallowed in large quantities
IronMonk is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-17-2004, 01:33 PM   #5
Omeganitros
auauauau
FFR Veteran
 
Omeganitros's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Hee-Haw!
Age: 31
Posts: 8,899
Send a message via AIM to Omeganitros
Default RE: Grace and Robots

Ever been to the circus? When the bear rides the bicycle, people clap.

Anyways, it honestly depends on the presentation of the robot. If I had a machine that looked like a giant cyborg spider, I probably would'nt say thank you if it got me a drink.
But the robot takes up a humaniod form, having a face, two hands, two legs, I would probably be inclined to say "Thank you" simply because it's shaped like a human.
Omeganitros is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-17-2004, 04:21 PM   #6
The_Q
FFR Player
 
The_Q's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Columbus, OH
Age: 31
Posts: 4,391
Send a message via AIM to The_Q Send a message via Yahoo to The_Q
Default RE: Grace and Robots

I don't think it has a thing to do with the robot, it's more of the people. From a young age they've been taught to clap at acheivments. It's a social custom. They don't often think of what they're clapping at or who they are applauding, but they are showing their admiration or appreciation. That's what they've been taught, that's what they live.

Q
The_Q is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 10:27 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.1
Copyright ©2000 - 2021, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright FlashFlashRevolution