IN OUR OWN IMAGE

Why do we work so hard to create robots that look and act and move as we do?

Why struggle to devise humanoid forms to do our work: to walk with legs like ours; to lift with arms like ours; to look with eyes in a face like ours; to talk like us? Are we really the most efficient form to get work done, or are we just intrigued to see if we can replicate ourselves - but with what aim? Are we interested in knowing more about ourselves, or just lazy? Are we, at heart, all really interested in having slaves do our work for us, with as much enthusiasm as we decry slavery?

Perhaps we are trying to overcome all the subtleties in human relationships and every complication and challenge that this brings? Are we keen to resolve everything with the throw of a switch to OFF for our own convenience?

We already spend much time and money on motor vehicles, both ICE and electric, because we see this as an efficient way of moving around, more efficient than walking. So, if the aim is efficiency, why do we make our robots walk? Why not give them wheels?

As for lifting, we have devised numerous more effective and efficient ways of lifting things than a pair of arms, so why do we struggle to replicate our limbs in robots? It would seem that efficiency and effectiveness has nothing to do with our intentions.

Surely this is more than vanity; but perhaps not? The situation appears to be so irrational that one does wonder about the ambitions. Surely this anthropomorphism is not driven by self-importance and power, like that which can be perceived with envisaged relationships with sex dolls. Here, the ability to respond emotively has gone, or, with AI, has been carefully programmed to suit the intention, leaving the sex master in total control of all emotions without having to wonder or care about any other. One can indulge in whatever fantasy one wants, without having to be concerned about, or to have to respond to another in any way.

Given the impact of social media on individuals with its concentration on the self, this latter proposition causes one to be concerned about things humanoid and robotic; to be worried about attitudes to relationships; to the simple cooperation and the love, care, concern, and responsibility this involves.

We learn much from others with what Martin Buber called the ‘I/Thou’ relationship; isolation and control are the antithesis of this situation, making everything self-centred; singularly less with its emphasis only on ME.

We need to become more accountable in every way. Our fixation with humanoid robots and AI is a serious concern: it tests the very basis of our social responsibility by ignoring it in favour of one's own interests and preferences.