Video from Wednsday

 The black mirror video we watched on Wednsday about Martha and her husband was peculiar in a fascinating way. It was like watching the future and a vague similarity to technicality today. Morally wise, the video was very frustrating. We all experience death throughout our life, some of us being more emotional, don’t know how to handle it. In this case, Martha didn’t know how to handle ash’s death very well, which led her to take consequential decisions. I believe that her pregnancy had a huge role in her desision making. Her hormones made her more emotional and susceptible to the idea of being able to talk to him. I know this from personal experience. He died before she knew that she was pregnant. This made her want to tell him, even thought telling him meant telling a robot. It’s not sinister in a gostly way, but it’s sinister in the idea of how realistic the robot sounds and how human like the robot is. She was way more attached to the voice than the robot though. It was obvious that she felt like it was really him when she talked on the phone, unlike the robot she bought. If those robots were to exist today, I think many people would not be mentally healthy. The robots are easy to manipulate, they do whatever the owner wants them to. Ash’s robot clone refused to hit Martha when she yelled at him to, but whose to say that it won’t listen to a man. Maybe he refused to hit her because she was a woman, and he was a “ man.” If it were to be told to hurt someone or a crowd of people, it might listen. This would lead to an increase of terrorism around the world. The creation of these robots would be detrimental to society as a whole, not just a single persons health. Martha was in a way attached to the robot, and she didn’t want to get rid of it because she would feel as though she was killing ash or loosing him all over again. That would be the reason she kept him hidden in her attic for years and even let their child interact with him.

The uncanny valley

     During class this last Monday, we started the discussion about the "uncanny valley" and covered several examples as well. Firstly, the uncanny valley is described as an uncomfortable feeling that one gets when something (such as a robot) resembles a human being but is not close enough to fully pass as one. Such an example would be the robots in the videos shown in class, which looked fairly human, but their actions and motions were easily labeled as robotic. Another example would be Toshiba's Aiko Chihira, an android given the job of being a receptionist in a department store in Tokyo. In Aiko's case, several customers of the department store admitted that they believed she was human when they first saw her, but that is not the case for most of the humanoid androids out there. As seen in the graph in class, with the x-axis ranging from no resemblance to humans to complete resemblance and the y-axis going from being disliked to being liked, there lies in a dip at around the 80% mark on human resemblance. This gray area of things being human-like but distant enough from it is where the uncanny valley phenomenon occurs. Things that fall into the category of the uncanny valley are usually very unsettling, such as the video of the singing android, Tara, in "I feel fantastic".
     From this discussion of humanoid androids, we stemmed into talking about the Turing Test; a test which proposes that if someone can not tell if a robot is human when interacting with it, then it should be treated as human. For most of the examples given in class, none of the androids would have passed the Turing Test. However, technology is getting closer and closer to producing androids that could potentially be confused for being human, and therefore pass the Turing Test. Media and television shows have featured plots thats revolve around the uncanny valley phenomenon, like in the movie Ex Machina, or the episode of Black Mirror shown in class on Wednesday, "Be Right Back". Big steps have already been made in incorporating androids into society. A prime example being Sophia, an android manufactured by Hanson Robotics, who is the first robot to be given a citizenship.
     As scientists and engineers continue to work on moving away from the uncanny valley, the more progress is made and the more frequent these advanced, humanoid robots are found in our society. We could potentially be moving toward a future where androids are as commonplace as our smartphones, but with citizenships and rights of their own.

Aiko Chihira
"I feel fantastic"

In the episode "Black Mirror: Be Right Back", the two lovers , Ash and Martha, moves into a house together. Ash leaves to do something while Martha stayed at the house finishing her work. She calls him but he never answered and soon finds out that Ash died. She is greatly upset by his death and her friend tries to tell her about a new service that'll let her talk to her deceased boyfriend. She didn't want to do it but her friend signs her up anyway saying that it will help her feel better. She wasn't going to use the program to talk to him until she found out that she was pregnant. She wanted to tell him that so she started talking to him through this program and Ash tells her about a better way to help her. She agrees and ended up receiving a robot that she activated in the tub and it looked exactly like her late lover. She was happy at first but started noticing the differences between the robot Ash and the human Ash. She started getting frustrated with the robot Ash because although he looked like human Ash, he showed barely any emotion and doesn't act exactly like the Ash she knew. As time flew by, Martha's daughter grew and the robot Ash now lives in the attic but Martha doesn't seem happy for him to be there constantly reminding her of her late boyfriend. On the other hand, Robots like Ash 2.0 resembles a human quite well and can learn things like an human. Although robots like Ash 2.0 needs help learning, they shouldn't be treated differently from other humans.

 
    Before I go in-depth about the advanced mechanics which is referred as the “robot”, let me just give an analysis of “Black Mirror: Be Right Back”  The characters Martha and Ash are deeply in love with each other and move in together to a house in the countryside. On the next morning, Ash drives the van they hired for the relocation back to the rental, but he has an accident and dies. During the funeral, Martha's friend Sarah tells her about a service to help grieving people to recover, creating a virtual Ash to communicate with her from the information available in social networks and Internet. Martha cries to Sarah and does not accept the idea. However, Sarah subscribes Martha to the service and she receives and e-mail from Ash and has an argument with Sarah. A few days later, Martha learns that she is pregnant and she does not succeed in contacting her sister Naomi. She responds Ash's e-mail and they start a relationship through e-mail first and through cell phone later. One day, Ash offers an experimental and expensive service to Martha and she receives a synthetic body identical to Ash. When Martha activates the clone, she finds an identical Ash and they have sex. This episode brings light to the recognition of robots. For starters, humans and robots do not function similarly. Humans take in information and emotions using a brain and bodily functions but the same cannot be said about robots. They do not contain the bodily functions that helps it function the way humans do. One thing I can say is that the robot (Ash 2.0) was a good imitator. With that being said, robots like Ash 2.0 shouldn't be denied their humanity.

Discussion on Robots

        While watching, Black Mirror's Be Right Back, I began to believe that the thought of robots living amongst us wouldn't be too bad. When discussing Sophia and the other robot, I figured that it was pretty amazing that we have such advanced technology that people could be build near perfect humans that could move and speak. True, it would be strange to find out that you've held a full conversation with a robot, but it would not be scary. The robots that we've discussed so far were quite friendly, passive even. They were willing to learn and ready to improve themselves. I feel that, yes, it could get annoying to have to explain every single thing to the robot on a daily basis, but most of us already have friends like that so one more wouldn't really hurt.
        I also think that it would be a good idea for them to exist mainly because they cannot feel pain, this would make them very useful. A human face, proper training, and the ignorance of pain would make robots nearly perfect heroes. They would have no concept of a superior race or have a mindset to gain ''god complex". They wouldn't die and they would not be afraid to die. This could save a lot of people. For me, what would be scary is if the robot had somehow gained free will. If they all had their own personality and own way of thinking, I have seen way too many movies about robots wanting to take over the world and/or cleansing the human race.
        As for my opinion on how the robots appearance, I like the human form that "Ash 2.0". I, as a human myself, find his looks more appealing than Sophia. I felt more comfortable with his presence on the screen, I even feel for his commanded emotions and responses. I gave one of those little quiet snort laughs at his jokes and I internally felt for him when he begged to get off of that cliff. All while when Sophia spoke, I grimaced at the mouth movement and I could not focus on the words that she spoke because I was too busy listening to the jokes my classmates made.
       When 'human' robots do become mass produced, it is important that human kind does not become to dependent on them to do everything for them. Of course at first it will take some time to get used to it and there will be people against and people all for it. Eventually though it will became as common as cell phones. This should not be the case though because then the movies could come true and we do not want that.
      

“Be Right Back”

In the “Black Mirror” episode, “Be Right Back,” the couple is simply enjoying life so far after moving in together. Then, all of sudden, the script changes. One morning Ash leaves, but he never comes back home. Martha was worried sick, but then police show up at her home to inform her that Ash has died. Martha is devastated. At the funeral, a “friend” of hers informs her of a site where she can still be able to talk to Ash, even though he’s dead.

This is when Martha’s life gets even more chaotic. At first, Martha didn’t agree with using the site. However, one day she decides to try it out. After she realized that the program did make it seem like Ash was still alive, somewhat, she begins using the program everyday, for most of the day. After a while, the program tells her that she can purchase a robot that will act and talk as Ash would, and of course, Martha gives in. After activating the robot, she is completely freaked out, but after getting used to the robot she starts to get more comfortable. In some situations, Martha sees that the robot is not reacting the way Ash would, so she becomes upset and frustrated with the robot. She expects the robot to be just like Ash, and when the robot does things that are not “Ashlike” she is extremely vexed with it. Because of this, she feels that the  robot is not enough of Ash as she would like, and she is not pleased.

After watching this episode, I was convinced that this was a horrible idea. Martha’s life only became more difficult after the death of Ash. She became emotionally and mentally unstable. She is tremendously unhealthy because of one decision. I believe that robots should be limited.  Robots are very helpful and useful for many things. Replacing a dead human is just not one of them. Yes, it could be all cool, but it could also harm you. This episode has also made me realize how capable technology is, and what all it is able to create.

Can Robots Be Our Equivalents?

    The conversation in class Friday provoked the question of what it really means to be human, and like all questions regarding moral or ethical dilemmas, simple answers are not sufficient enough satisfy them. In fact, there is almost never a right or wrong answer to any of these questions. However, I would still like to give my insight on what it means to be human and how that shapes my opinion on "Ash 2.0."
    Humans, unlike robots, are not controlled by lifeless algorithms that are responsible for how they learn and respond to the environment. Humans process, compute, and regurgitate information and emotions with the help of their brain, a living organ going through daily life functions. Robots do not have a brain, nor a heart pumping blood through their body, nor the humanly desire to eat, sleep, or weep. On the flip side, robots are great imitators (or at least Ash 2.0 was), and they do possess the ability to learn these humanly functions just as we do but in a different manner.
    So, what if a bot was made cleverly enough to where he (it?) was indistinguishable from an adult human? What if instead of using a brain, he took advantage of the billions of available web material  to learn how to become an emotionally and socially responsive human? Will we still deny this robot the humanity his creator has worked so hard for?
     I say we shouldn't. Alan Turing suggests that if we can not distinguish a robot from a human, then this robot should be seen as a human. I mean, the only difference between it and us is how it processes information. Robots may have to learn emotions, but so do children. And they may have to learn sarcasm and slang, but we all had to do the same thing at one point in our lives. 
    Ash 2.0 could have been human. He was very close to being human. He had the ability to learn how to be human with exposure. Robots like Ash 2.0 shouldn't be denied their humanity. We should embrace their fascination in a world completely new to them and their child like inquisition just like we would with our own kids.