Robots: Roulette

Abishai100

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Sep 22, 2013
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Scientists and philosophers (and artists too) studying the human brain/mind are interested in three topics:

1. aliens
2. robots
3. monsters

Are there alien intelligences whose brains are wired differently? Can computer-scientists create 'synthetic minds' with algorithms and silicon processors? Are there minds that think differently or even strangely?

Understanding the human mind requires a study of not only psychology but also sociology. Sociologists offer us a way to dissect the macro-processes that govern civilization decision-making. When societies cast social contracts, politics becomes wed to etiquette (and hence normative behaviors).

To understand the mental processes that give rise to cultural understandings (e.g., racial hatred), we can evaluate why humanity is so fascinated by 'intelligence coordination,' which is why I will focus on the subject of robots under this topic.

Various science-fiction stories about robotic beings and robotic species (e.g., Robotech) present images/ideas of well-coordinated 'intelligent machines' which have the power of self-evaluation and organized ambition. These stories (and movies too) present themes about behavior coordination and social expectations. Why would we say a robot is more 'dependable' than a human being?

Robots therefore help us analyze the parameters of sociological hypotheses.

Would an intelligent robot (befriended to humanity) celebrate Christmas or Easter in a way similar to humans, or would they fashion a new ritual-festival in honor of a genesis-benefactor of a different nature (e.g., Frankenstein)?

My theory is that an intelligent robotic species (perhaps created consciously by human computer-scientists) would not only be fascinated by genesis-themed stories such as Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, but they would also extrapolate the self-image/identity transformation themes in such stories to appreciate the masquerading-imagination festival of Halloween.

Therefore, Halloween would serve as a psycho-sociological bridge between human minds and robot minds!

Since a human might dress up as a robot for Halloween, perhaps a robot would dress up as a human for Halloween.

The idea of experimenting with one's self-appearance or presentation of identity (e.g., Halloween masks, Internet chat-room aliases/avatars, etc.) invokes considerations about the 'desirability' of transformation.

We can use stories about robots then to evaluate the contours of personality transformation. Such evaluations can inform our understanding of psychological disorders such as schizophrenia and sociological disorders such as Nazism.

Robotech is one of my personal favorite sci-fi robotics-storytelling series/franchises, since it nicely explores the imaginative interplay between large-scale governance contracts and weapons-based machine-engaged wrath.



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SENATOR: We must colonize this new planet inhabited by robots.
ENGINEER: These robots are not so different from the robots on Earth!
SENATOR: Yes, but these robots wield more intriguing weapons and tools.
ENGINEER: How do you know we will benefit from their science?
SENATOR: We will take what we please.
ENGINEER: If our colonization efforts are met with rebellion, we must be prepared.
SENATOR: Our weapons are sufficiently destructive!
ENGINEER: We should consider the notion that we need not colonize.
SENATOR: There is little room for empathy.
ENGINEER: We are pursuing a 'dissatisfaction philosophy.'

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Robotech II: The Sentinels (Wikipedia Entry)


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Uncle Ferd says, "Lookit, dat robot got him eatin' outta her hand...
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Lifelike Robots Made in Hong Kong Meant to Win Over Humans
January 16, 2018 — David Hanson envisions a future in which robots powered by artificial intelligence evolve to become "super-intelligent genius machines" that might help solve some of mankind's most challenging problems.
If only it were as simple as that. The Texas-born former sculptor at Walt Disney Imagineering and his Hong Kong-based startup Hanson Robotics are combining AI with southern China's expertise in toy design, electronics and manufacturing to craft humanoid "social robots" with faces designed to be lifelike and appealing enough to win trust from humans who interact with them. Hanson, 49, is perhaps best known as the creator of Sophia, a talk show-going robot partly modeled on Audrey Hepburn that he calls his "masterpiece." Akin to an animated mannequin, she seems as much a product of his background in theatrics as an example of advanced technology.

'Is it weird?'

"You're talking to me right now, which is very 'Blade Runner,' no?" Sophia said during a recent visit to Hanson Robotics' headquarters in a suburban Hong Kong science park, its home since shortly after Hanson relocated here in 2013. "Do you ever look around you and think, 'Wow, I'm living in a real-world science fiction novel'?" she asked. "Is it weird to be talking to a robot right now?" Hanson Robotics has made about a dozen copies of Sophia, who like any human is a work in progress. A multinational team of scientists and engineers are fine-tuning her appearance and the algorithms that enable her to smile, blink and refine her understanding and communication.

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David Hanson, the founder of Hanson Robotics, poses with his company's flagship robot, Sophia, a lifelike robot powered by artificial intelligence, in Hong Kong​

Sophia has moving 3-D-printed arms and, with the help of a South Korean robotics company, she's now going mobile. Shuffling slowly on boxy black legs, Sophia made her walking debut in Las Vegas last week at the CES electronics trade show. Her skin is made of a nanotech material that Hanson invented and dubbed "Frubber," short for flesh-rubber, that has a fleshlike, bouncy texture. Cameras in her eyes and a 3-D sensor in her chest help her to "see," while the processor that serves as her brain combines facial and speech recognition, natural language processing, speech synthesis and a motion control system.

Sophia's predecessors
 
The Grail of Robots


What if 'winning over humans' means aesthetics-policies?

Here's a commerce-culture exchange between the two fictional A.I. robots Wreck-Gar (an ethical rogue-warrior on a planet of metallic junk) and Cyclonus (a wily and diabolical wolfish 'first-knight') from the A.I. fantasy-adventure franchise Transformers (Hasbro).

Where's Asimov when you really need him?


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WRECK-GAR: What if an A.I. government requires teddy-bears?
CYCLONUS: Cuddly-cute sweetness has no place in a Machiavellian universe!
WRECK-GAR: What about Facebook and Starbucks?
CYCLONUS: Capitalism/consumerism is satisfaction-based.
WRECK-GAR: Satisfaction can be friendship-based.
CYCLONUS: That is not the case in a Communist state.
WRECK-GAR: Communism advocates teamwork too...
CYCLONUS: There's nothing 'friendly' about the automobile industry!
WRECK-GAR: When I watch the film Gung-Ho, I think of community values.
CYCLONUS: I'm not sure capitalism allows for socialization comforts...
WRECK-GAR: Competition does not necessarily mean piracy!
CYCLONUS: You live on a planet of 'friendly junk,' so you're biased about leadership.
WRECK-GAR: I know the difference between filth and fury!
CYCLONUS: Really? Why is Facebook so addictive?
WRECK-GAR: Consumerism makes toys symbolic of yoga-like S&M.
CYCLONUS: Americans love horror-films and pornography.
WRECK-GAR: Americans also appreciate democratic art (e.g., Highlights Magazine).
CYCLONUS: There's a timeless primal appeal of toy water-guns.
WRECK-GAR: Imagination must be coordinated with ethics (e.g., Gattaca).
CYCLONUS: We'll see if 'Facebook-culture' becomes bipartisan...

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{Wreck-Gar & Cyclonus}

robots.jpg
 
The Rail Road


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A glass car model stands against the classic light bulb lit by a homemade circuit board an amateur electrical engineering student designed. The glass car is everything vain and hallucinatory, while the light-bulb board is a perfect symbol of modernism factory-work diligence. Which would you choose? Is this a 'dichotomy-axis line' for debates between Absurdists and Empiricists? That's the real question, and it's the kind of consideration that inspires modern-day comic book writers to invent all kinds of work-geometry storyboards for fantastic relevant modernism-symbolic comic book 'super-villains' such as Electro (Marvel Comics) and Brainiac (DC Comics). So what's the boundary-line between imaginarium hyperbole (creative and encouraged) and Wall Street rapture? Isn't this the sort of 'systems-sociology' reflective of new age robotics-oriented 'metaphysics' and punk-rock grammar? We see such 'consciousness' imprinted in new age American music groups such as Devo and Weezer.

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The Deep State: Duracell Daffodils



Why is modern political discourse so conducive to A.I. storytelling? Have we conceded then that A.I. fiction is comparable to and complementary of a 'transformation-governance' ethos?

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NIGHTCRAWLER: The electronic arena in modern-times is a sign of indulgence.
CARE-BEAR: Maybe there's a way to coordinate science-fiction with improvisation!
NIGHTCRAWLER: What's the difference between Yale Literature and Asimov-candy?
CARE-BEAR: It all depends on if you're a comedian or a historian.
NIGHTCRAWLER: Is comedy art?
CARE-BEAR: It certainly is, and especially when the humor is about dreams.
NIGHTCRAWLER: I find nothing innocent/pure in daydreams about piracy.
CARE-BEAR: The Internet isn't all piracy...there's also chess.
NIGHTCRAWLER: Maybe Wikipedia and Facebook are impressive...
CARE-BEAR: They certainly are, and especially when viewed through the consumerism-lens.
NIGHTCRAWLER: Consumerism is simply convenience wrapped up in a color-blind 'veil.'
CARE-BEAR: If capitalism promotes pluralism and culture-exchange, then it's a profit for global culture.
NIGHTCRAWLER: Don't you understand that darkness is measured as patience-failures?
CARE-BEAR: If we characterize all ambitions through the lens of envy, then anything can be chaos.
NIGHTCRAWLER: Maybe Lucky Charms (General Mills) and Monopoly (Parker Brothers) are 'tokens.'
CARE-BEAR: I think there's an A.I. 'link' between Pinocchio and Princeton (if you believe!).
NIGHTCRAWLER: Perhaps A.I. research will not become 'graffiti-figurative.'
CARE-BEAR: Everything comes down to Apple Computers...


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