Blade Runner
The idea of robots is not new, for many years humans have imagined intelligent mechanized devices that perform humanlike tasks in literature as well as in film. “The acclaimed Czech playwright, Karel Capek, made famous the word “robot”, the Czech word for forced labor or serf. Capek introduced the word in his play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots”. (http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa032197.htm) The plot was simple, man makes robot then robot kills man. Many movies that followed continued to show robots as harmful and as killer machines. In the futuristic film of “Blade Runner” released in the 80’s, androids (human replicants) achieved a mental and physical level, beyond human capabilities “Replicants are physically stronger than humans, this is proven numerous times throughout the film. More intelligent? Roy Batty, an average Nexus-6 Replicant, beats Eldon Tyrell, a (human) genius, handily at chess”. (http://www.popsubculture.com/pop/bio_project/audio/benefit.wav). Furthermore, replicants were even able to develop their own thoughts and feelings after the fourth year of existence. Yet, other movies, such as the 1977 hit, Star Wars, showed "C3PO" and "R2D2" as really smart but also as good robots.
Moreover, science fiction author Isaac Asimov is often given credit for being the first person to use the term robotics, in a short story composed in the 1940s. In the story, Asimov suggested three principles to guide the behavior of robots and smart machines.
“1. A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm, unless this would violate a higher order law
2. A robot must obey orders given it by human beings, except where such orders would confict with a higher order law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with a higher order law.” (http://www.frc.ri.cmu.edu/robotics-faq/1.html)
The reality is that, fully functioning androids are many years away due to the many problems that have to be solved first. However, real working sophisticated robots are in use today and are changing the way many industries operate. Robot are virtually being used everywhere. The fields in which robotics are being use range from the entertainment industry to car manufacturing and from the from the toy industry to medicine. For example, Sony one of the leading electronic appliances manufactures released AIBO in 1999, a robotic pet that is merely used for entertainment purposes. The pet features learning capabilities and a full range of commands the let the owner interact with it, as if it was a real pet. The pet is having great acceptance in Japan, this is probably due to the facts that Japan is a crowed country; therefore space for a real pet is sometimes not available.
Other fields are also utilizing robots to take over tasks that are dangerous for a human. These robots do not resemble the robot that we see in movies. They are more of industrial manipulators and are really computer controlled arms and hands. The type of jobs that these robots are doing, range from deactivating bombs to spying enemy territory. “On August 19, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) reported that the U.S. House of Representatives '04 budget would pump $126 billion into federal research, $8.4 billion over '03—90 percent of that increase is specifically earmarked for the Defense and Homeland Security departments. Moreover, with that many dollars chasing (and tempting) researchers in fields like robotics and nanotechnology, the perception is that it's almost impossible to forgo military support and still remain competitive” (http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0337/baard.php). It is true that robots can cause unemployment by replacing human workers, but robots also create jobs: robot technicians, salesmen, engineers, programmers and supervisors.
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Links
http://www.machinebrain.com/Fighting_Robots/Military_Robots/
http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0337/baard.php
http://inventors.about.com/cs/historyrobots/
http://news.com.com/2100-1040_3-225664.html?tag=st_rn
http://robots.net/
http://www.popsubculture.com/pop/bio_project/audio/benefit.wav
Moreover, science fiction author Isaac Asimov is often given credit for being the first person to use the term robotics, in a short story composed in the 1940s. In the story, Asimov suggested three principles to guide the behavior of robots and smart machines.
“1. A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm, unless this would violate a higher order law
2. A robot must obey orders given it by human beings, except where such orders would confict with a higher order law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with a higher order law.” (http://www.frc.ri.cmu.edu/robotics-faq/1.html)
The reality is that, fully functioning androids are many years away due to the many problems that have to be solved first. However, real working sophisticated robots are in use today and are changing the way many industries operate. Robot are virtually being used everywhere. The fields in which robotics are being use range from the entertainment industry to car manufacturing and from the from the toy industry to medicine. For example, Sony one of the leading electronic appliances manufactures released AIBO in 1999, a robotic pet that is merely used for entertainment purposes. The pet features learning capabilities and a full range of commands the let the owner interact with it, as if it was a real pet. The pet is having great acceptance in Japan, this is probably due to the facts that Japan is a crowed country; therefore space for a real pet is sometimes not available.
Other fields are also utilizing robots to take over tasks that are dangerous for a human. These robots do not resemble the robot that we see in movies. They are more of industrial manipulators and are really computer controlled arms and hands. The type of jobs that these robots are doing, range from deactivating bombs to spying enemy territory. “On August 19, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) reported that the U.S. House of Representatives '04 budget would pump $126 billion into federal research, $8.4 billion over '03—90 percent of that increase is specifically earmarked for the Defense and Homeland Security departments. Moreover, with that many dollars chasing (and tempting) researchers in fields like robotics and nanotechnology, the perception is that it's almost impossible to forgo military support and still remain competitive” (http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0337/baard.php). It is true that robots can cause unemployment by replacing human workers, but robots also create jobs: robot technicians, salesmen, engineers, programmers and supervisors.
Links
http://www.machinebrain.com/Fighting_Robots/Military_Robots/
http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0337/baard.php
http://inventors.about.com/cs/historyrobots/
http://news.com.com/2100-1040_3-225664.html?tag=st_rn
http://robots.net/
http://www.popsubculture.com/pop/bio_project/audio/benefit.wav
posted by Memo at 1:11 AM
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