Relationship Between Robots And Human Companionship

The Human-Robot Relationship Thanks to the rapid development of technology, robots are widely being utilized. From industrial robots to medical operating robots, from robotic toys to robotic lovers, robots, as humans’ substitutes and servants, are programmed to imitate human behaviors and do many things that used to be done by humans. Still, there are concerns about the increasing use of robots and their relationships with humans. People are inclined to develop emotional affinity toward robots. They spend more and more time with robots for companionship, and less with other people. Will the human-human relationship be replaced by the human-robot relationship? Is it possible to have a sense of harmony with the company of robots? In “Alone Together”, …show more content…
Turkle emphasizes that in the moment of apparent connection between Miriam and her robotic baby seal Paro, Paro understands nothing. She points out that “Paro can make eye contact by sensing the direction of human voice, is sensitive to touch, and has a small working English vocabulary for ‘understanding’ its users (the robot’s Japanese vocabulary is larger); most importantly, it has ‘states of mind’ affected by how it is treated” (Turkle p270). Conceived as an aggregation of human intelligence, Paro does not have its own thoughts, consciousness, or emotional characteristics. It is simply a sentient robot that is programmed to sense the environment, receive data, identify someone’s emotional state, and then make an intelligent response accordingly. Making robots look like adorable animals or human beings may contribute to establishing bonds between robots and humans, yet robots are solely consummate actors who enchant humans by pretending to have “understanding” and “states of mind”. As humans bond with these robots, could the human-robot relationship change into the friendship and replace the human-human relationship? The answer is no for those who place high value on the authenticity of relationships. Robots’ understanding is imparted by humans, so that their understanding is not their own understanding, but just part of human understanding lodged in them. Thus, the human-robot companionship which possesses the human mind but is devoid of robots’ mind, is only a one-way relationship, and cannot be defined as an authentic relationship at all. If robots are programmed to have the entire human mind and understand thing like humans, could the authentic human-robot companionship be achieved? Goodall declares that “There are those exploring the human brain who feel that no matter how much they