“Be Right Back” The Uncanny Valley

     The Black Mirror episode, “Be Right Back,” gave me an interesting insight on the concept of the uncanny valley. In the episode, a young couple, Martha and Ash, move into a new house that seems to be in a rural area. After they get settled into their home, Ash, the boyfriend, leaves; however, he doesn’t come back. Martha soon finds out that he has died. She doesn’t know how to take it, and her friend Sarah recommends this technologically advanced program that will let her speak to Ash although he is dead. Martha tries out 2 versions of the program: talking on the phone and talking to the “robot look alike.”
     My initial reaction was “why would she want to bring back the dead especially when she knows it’s just a robot?” After observing how she reacts to the robot, I understand why she continued with the program.  When she only heard his voice, it was like he was simply away from home but he was still there. It felt real to her, and it gave her a sort of comfort, so she upgraded to the robot look-alike. I could tell that she began to realize how weird it was for “Ash” to be back in her presence, and no matter how hard she tried to convince herself, she knew that the robot couldn’t be everything that she knew human Ash to be.
      Although the program made her feel safer and more comforting, I don’t believe it was safe or healthy at all. She basically had to cut herself off from society to be in this fantasy world where Ash was still alive, and to think that we could be walking down the halls in the future passing humanoids and not even knowing it is scary. Technological advances definitely have made society better, but robots can be physically dangerous as well as mentally dangerous. No matter how many features someone puts in a robot, it is still a piece of technology, and people will think everything’s okay until someone messes up and their robot doesn’t act how they planned.
   

During Friday's' discussion we highlighted some interesting points about Martha's choice to communicate with Ash through this unique program. One question that was very intriguing was, if I thought Martha's friend was wrong to bring up this particular program at such a sensitive time (during the funeral)? From Martha's perspective it was absolutely wrong for the friend to bring it up. For starters, Martha is extremely vulnerable and can not make racial decisions considering she just buried her boyfriend. However, on the other hand from the program's' perspective this is the best opportunity. Because Martha is extremely vulnerable, she is considered weak and it benefits the outcome of her going along with the program. Another factor, she is unable to make reasonable decisions on her own and she will not be able to deny this opportunity of talking to Ash. The success rate of the significant other going along with the program is much higher following the days after the funeral because their emotions are still fresh and they're more than likely to give in sooner rather than later. 

        Another idea that was discussed during class was if I thought Martha’s decision to go along with talking to Robot Ash were truly her own. I truly believe they weren’t. During the movie we saw how upset she became when she discovered her friend went ahead and signed her up with the program against her wishes. However, weeks passed and she discovered she was pregnant. The same day she discovered she was pregnant was the same night she went and contacted Robot Ash. Yes I believe she was missing her boyfriend tremendously, but her reasoning behind emailing Robot Ash was to share the news of being pregnant. Emails progressed into phone calls. With this leap from emails to conversation, her emotions also grew stronger. One particular scene that demonstrated she was without a doubt too emotionally involved with Robot Ash was when she was leaving the doctor's office. She was in the process of sending the sonogram and the recording of the baby’s heartbeat to Robot Ash and she dropped her phone and cracked it. This disconnected her from talking to him and she began hysterically crying because she thought she would never talk to Robot Ash again. This scene is extremely important because it shows how dependent she has become to talking to Robot Ash.

        Although the plot of the movie was very different and somewhat strange, overall it was an interesting movie that i very much enjoyed. 

The Limitations of Artificial Intelligence- Be Right Back

The limitations of Artificial Intelligence

At the beginning of the film, be right back, Martha and Asch appeared to be normal humans who used technology for beneficial purposes. For instance, Asch used his phone to make calls and to entertain himself in social media. Martha used her car’s automatic GPS to get from the store to her house. The above uses of technology are harmless because the human morality is not being threatened. However, it is important to know that as humans we can convert something good to bad. Social media, for example, is a harmless tool used to connect with friends and share picture or videos, but when it is used to expose someone or influence certain behaviors such as suicide it can become a threat.

In the film, we can see that Martha opted for a particular technology, where she could communicate with her deceived boyfriend through the phone. At first, it appeared like there was no harm in trying to console herself with the voice of her boyfriend. I think that every human tends to rely on something for comfort that belonged to a loved one, but the question is where is the limit in technology? I think Martha went beyond acceptable human behavior when she decided to purchase a humanoid of Asch. Technology can connect humans, but not replace them and when technology gets to a point where humans are being replaced, it has reached a limit. In addition, we could see how Martha’s mortality became threaten by her lying to her sister about artificial Asch. Inside she knew that having a replacement for her boyfriend was sick and that her sister would not tolerate the idea. Additionally, Martha almost made artificial Asch commit suicide. Although, it was obvious to her that is was not a real human with feelings, it could have led to thinking that suicide was easy. Therefore,  the only way to prevent humans from becoming humanoids and vice versa is to set a limit to where human morality and safety is not threatened.

Technology can be a great tool to navigate through life in an easier way, but as humans, we are still responsible for major duties such as caring for our children and building a stable family. In other words, there are certain acts that technology cannot replace because they come from human instinct. That is why Martha could not accept artificial Asch. He did not have real Asch’s rational and unconscious thinking and as such, she was unable to continue the relationship that had built with real Asch.

In the end, technology needs to be limited to prevent human morality from being threatened. We can enjoy the practicality of ordering online and receiving our items in minutes. All of those uses of technology are good, but it should stay limited to those uses. As humans, our sense of morality is what sets us apart from other species, and as such we should cherish it.

It's a Robot so It Doesn't Know

The series, Black Mirror, has an episode titled, "Be Right Back." In the episode, a woman's, Martha, significant other, Ash, goes out and never comes back because he dies. At the funeral, one of Martha's acquaintances tells her about this program that allows you to communicate with a lost loved one. She uses it only to tell Ash that she is pregnant, but it ends up going as far as her creating a version of Ash that you can touch, feel, and talk to, but he's not a human because he's a robot.

The way Martha was able to talk to "Ash" was through email or text, then it moved up to a phone call, then she was able to allow it to see what she saw, then she received a robot. How the robot got to be Ash was first the company that provides the service gains access to all of Ash's social media and they developed a system, so the robot could talk like Ash. Every level of communication means the more information Martha had to send to Robot Ash so it could act as much like real Ash as possible.

No matter how much information she gave it, she couldn't give it Ash's brain and conscious so there would still be some things it would do that Ash would not do. Like when she told Robot Ash to get out and it did, Real Ash would not just get out and do what she says Real Ash would stand up for himself. Even once it left, Robot Ash couldn't go a certain number of meters away from the activation site without his administrator.

The whole idea of having a robot is dangerous. You don’t know what the robot is capable of. In the episode, Robot Ash could switch everything on and off--everything and not feel anything. He doesn’t feel any emotions. I guess that isn’t weird because he is a robot and not a human, but I guess there isn’t anything wrong with it, so it can remind you that it is not the person you are trying to make it be. However, there could be a glitch or a "glitch" in the system and it could turn on you at any moment; because it's not a human and it doesn't have a heart and it doesn't feel emotions it wouldn't feel any remorse about it.

The Hindrance of Artificial Intelligence

In the episode of Black Mirrors titled "Be Right Back," it brings to light the invention of artificial intelligence. In a futuristic world, yet a very plausible future, a woman, Martha, loses her boyfriend, Ash, to a fatal car accident. At the funeral, Martha learns from a friend that she can still communicate with Ash even though he is dead. She eventually finds out that she is pregnant and decides to take part in the program to communicate with Ash. Martha progresses to the next level of the program which, in a way, brings Ash back to life through the embodiment of all digital traces left of him into a robot that looks like him.

This image serves as an example of the robots' resemblance to humanity.

           I believe that the first mistake made in the creation of the robot that mirrored Ash's appearance and calculates his words/actions is the assumption that you can recreate a person based solely on their digital footprint. We, as humans, tend to not be exactly like our social media selves. There was a strong possibility that the Ash that was created from the digital footprint could, in essence, not have been Ash at all. Martha could have gotten a completely different person than she intended. She could have found herself in a home alone with creation that was entirely foreign to her.

           I also think that artificial intelligence is a very dangerous thing. I don't find it dangerous because it's a human look-alike that's machine, or because of the strength the robot can be given, or because of its wide-ranged ability to gather information. The part that is alarming to me is a creation that reflects the image of a human that is capable of portraying emotions at the control of its own will. The manipulation of emotions in that sense makes it easy to manipulate born humans, which is dangerous if such robots are to interact with humans in the real world without their knowledge.

           In conclusion, I believe artificial intelligence is a revolutionary creation and represents an exponential development in how far humans have come with technology; however, it is dangerous and requires strict controlling to avoid corruption, misuse, and the manipulation of the human race as a whole.

Final Project Ideas

Dear Class,

You can click here to go to Professor Johnson's blog where you can find links to her past Technology and Human Values projects. If you are still unsure about your topic, take a look at these, as well as the projects from my previous semesters. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask!

Have a great weekend,
BC

Welcome!

Welcome to the blog-home for Professor Ben Curtis' Theories of Human Nature class! For the second half of the semester, we will be turning our attention to contemporary moral problems generated by the increasingly complicated interactions between human life, on the one hand, and the various technologies humans have created to make their/our life "better," on the other hand.  This site will serve as a forum for students to discuss the lectures, readings, and films we cover in class, raise interesting questions we may not have addressed during our regular IRL time together, make connections between our course material and current real-world events, and engage in an ongoing digital conversation with one another, Prior to this point in the semester, your progress and understanding has been assessed through objective quizzes and symposia.  This is your chance to demonstrate that you also can express your ideas and arguments in written form.

First, if you don't know ANYTHING about blogs or blogging, there are (fortunately) lots of tutorials out there to help!  If you have a specific question, you can usually find the answer to it at the Blogger Help Center.  For a quick YouTube introduction to blogging, I suggest this video and this one.  There's also a "Complete List of Blogger Tutorials" available.  That's the amazing thing about the internet, of course... you can learn to do almost anything with a few clicks!

It's important to know that blog-writing differs from the writing you might do for "traditional" papers in some ways, but not in others. Here are some things to think about as you compose your posts and comments:

WHEN POSTING:

• Do not wait until the last minute to write your post! Students should think of the blog as a community exercise. In this community, Authors are responsible for generating discussion and Commenters are responsible for continuing and elaborating upon it. In order for the Commenters to be able to provide the best commentary they can, it is necessary that Authors do not wait until the last minute to post entries in any given week. Like traditional papers, it is almost always obvious when a student has elected to write his or her blog-post at the last minute, as it ends up being either overly simple, poorly conceived, or poorly edited. Your contribution to the blog discussion is important, so take care to show the respect to your classmates that you would expect them to show you.
• Be concise, but also precise. The greatest challenge of blog-writing is to communicate complex ideas in a minimal amount of words. It is important that you keep your posts short, in keeping with the 300-400 word assignment format, but also that you do not sacrifice the clarity or completeness of your ideas for the sake of brevity.
• Be focused. If you find that your blog-entry is too long, it is likely because you have chosen too large a topic for one post. (Consider splitting up long entries into two or more posts.) It should be eminently clear, on the first reading, what your blog post is explaining/asking/arguing. Use the Post Title to clearly state the subject of your entry. DO NOT POST ANYTHING THAT DOES NOT INCLUDE A POST TITLE.
• Choose a topic that will prompt discussion. The measure of a good blog post is how much commentary it can generate. To that end, do not use your blog posts for simple exegesis or to revisit questions already settled in class. Good discussion-generators often include bold claims about, or original interpretations of, our classroom materials (lectures, texts, films, etc). Connecting the course material to current events or controversies is also a good way to generate discussion. Pay special attention to in-class conversations, as many of the issues that generate discussion in class will also generate discussion on the blog.
• Proofread. Proofread. PROOFREAD. As a rule, blog-writing is (slightly) less formal than the writing you might do for a paper you hand in to your professor. For example, you may write in the first person, and a more "conversational" style is usually acceptable. However, blog writing with glaring punctuation, spelling or grammatical mistakes not only will be difficult to read and understand, but also will greatly diminish the credibility of its Author. DO NOT "COPY AND PASTE" the text of your post into the blog's "new post" box, as you will inevitably end up with a format that is difficult to read. Be sure to familiarize yourself with the formatting buttons above, and ALWAYS preview your post before publishing it.
• Make use of the "extras" provided by new technology. When you write a traditional paper for class, you don't have many of the opportunities that blog-writing affords. Take advantage of the technologies available here to insert images, embed video or employ hyperlinks to other relevant materials.
• Respond to your commenters. After you write a post, you should stay abreast of all the commentary your post generates. If you are asked for clarification by a commenter, or if one of your claims is challenged, it is the your responsibility to respond.

WHEN COMMENTING ON OTHERS' POSTS:

• Read carefully BEFORE you comment. The biggest and most frequent error made by commenters is also the most easily avoidable, namely, misreading or misunderstanding the original post. Don't make that error!
• Simple agreement or disagreement is not sufficient. There is no word-limit for comments, but if you make a comment on another's post, you are required to say something substantive in your comment. Sometimes it will be the case that you fully agree or disagree with an Author's post. However, a comment that simply states "I agree" or "I disagree" will not count for credit. You MUST provide detailed reasons for your agreement or disagreement in your comment.
• Evidence works both ways. Often, the source of disagreement between a Poster and a Commenter will involve a matter of interpretation. If a Poster makes an objectionable (or false) claim about something that is verifiable-- for example, textual claims, statistical claims, historical claims, claims about current events, or claims about  any other evidentiary matters-- he or she MUST be prepared to provide evidence in support of his or her claims.  The same goes for commenters.  If you want to disagree about a matter of fact, you MUST provide evidence for your disagreement.  Hyperlinks are everyone's friend.
• NO flaming allowed!:  "Flaming" is defined as "a hostile or insulting interaction between Internet users."  Students should be reminded that disagreement, all by itself, does not constitute disrespect, nor does it count as "flaming" However, threatening, intimidating, belittling, name-calling, or otherwise inappropriate and/or reasonably objectionable language does count as flaming.  Engage your classmates on the blog with the same consideration and respect that you would in class.

Although this blog is viewable by anyone on the Web, participants have been restricted to students enrolled in PHIL224 only. This means that only students enrolled in PHIL224 this semester at CBU can post or comment on this blog. However, please be aware that anyone can read this blog, so students should take special care to support the claims that they make, to edit their posts and comments judiciously, and to generally represent themselves in conversation here as they would in public.

I am very much looking forward to reading your work here over the next several weeks!

BC