Tuesday, October 27, 2015
The Frankenstein Complex In Our Modern Society?
How did the articles that you read in Popular Science, Scientific American, Discover Magazine, NASA impact your thinking about the
technology humans create? Did the articles make you reconsider The Frankenstein Complex?
Please quote and cite your article(s) as you incorporate them within
your blog response. This blog response is due by Wednesday, October 28th at 2:30p.m.
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On Scientific America I saw an article about a program that was starting to independently repair and upgrade itself. This ability might cause people to fear robots with this ability because they could eventually evolve beyond humans. This is kind of what happens to the Marvel character Ultron in the comics. These evolving robots could cause us to question if we should restrict robotic evolution.
ReplyDeleteThe article I read was about how humans are creating a robot that can play jazz and react to humans quickly and accurately. I enjoy and am excited to see what humans can do with technology. If we can create a robot like this we can do many things, including creating a human companion and "DARPA hopes that this type of robot will evolve into a machine that can learn how to instantly respond to human soldiers on the battlefields of the future." This system would be very useful in the future for soldiers and for the normal humans.
ReplyDeleteThe articles that we read impacted my thinking about the technology humans create because it showed that the technology/robots we are making are getting so advanced it's a little frightening. When I first learned about the Frankenstein Complex I thought it was a bit ridiculous, but the articles we read showed that it can come from a logical place. My article, "Marines are Testing out a new Robot Dog for War" (Kelsey D. Aberthorn Popular Science 2015), made me think about the new technological advances and how they could affect society.
ReplyDeleteI found the article, "‘Ant-Man’ Dreams of Harnessing Six-Legged Soldiers". The article talks about the idea of having people in super soldier suits. A lots of the articles had the trend of making military technology which is a scary direction for humans to be progressing. This technology can lead to a world where humans are powerless to the people in power with all the technology. Other articles were about robots or computer systems that take away human responsibilities and promote our laziness. All this futuristic technology will take us away from our human nature and create a very strict system in the future.
ReplyDeleteThe articles that we read about talked all about new technology that that whereas it’s interesting, it’s also kinda scary. We have this technology that we create to help us could be turned against us. More business type corporations have leaned towards robots that will be your companions and servants. These are scary because they are giving robots human characteristics. On the other hand the military has been creating more combat oriented robots, that are much more deadly and dangerous that humans. This is scary because, whereas it may seem far fetched, if these robots started to think for themselves, it would be easy for them to take over. For example, the U.S military is currently testing a robot dog that can help soldier by peeking into doorways before the marines have to. This could be dangerous because if someone hack the technology these weapons could be turned against us.
ReplyDeleteThe articles that I read impacted my thinking about the technology humans create. I read about a robot-like vessel that can dive underwater at depths up to 300 meters. This will allow scientists to observe and collect things like never before. This is extremely advanced technology, and the person inside the vessel can survive up to 50 hours in the robot. This makes me think about if some of the technology we create is almost too advanced. In some science fiction stories, robots take humans jobs because they are superior, and I wonder if that could ever happen in the real world.
ReplyDeleteThere are so many new technologies that we are unaware of. Most are humanoid robots, war robot animals, war technologies, and digital companions. There are printable robot parts that can be made into a robot staff member at hotels, airports, hospitals, and even in the home. There is a robot that makes perfect pancakes. I wasn’t surprised to see that a lot of the titles of the articles said things like,”Here’s a robot that you don’t need to be afraid of,” which speaks to the Frankenstein Complex, but I was surprised to see that some robots were designed to get angry. Over the years, we will most likely see more of a presence of these creations and technology will be growing everyday.
ReplyDeleteIn these stories that we read there is a lot of cool inventions but one that was interesting was a invention that can predict things in the future. And that is kind of scary because we then might try to change certain scenarios of the future and the rich people will use it to get richer or people will use it as an unfair advantage. And could change the future in a big way and affect a lot of people.
ReplyDeleteThe articles I read focused mostly about space and it really impacts my thinking of the technology humans create. Space has been considered “the last frontier” by many. This abyss of darkness, can be frightening to many people. This article I read titled, “NASA IS SERIOUSLY CONSIDERING TERRAFORMING PART OF THE MOON WITH ROBOTS” (Popular Science.com) talks about how humans are wanting to send robots to a massive crater where water has been found in the southern pole area of the Moon. The article didn’t change my mind of the Frankenstein Complex as the robots going to the moon are there to help humans.
ReplyDeleteHow the articles that I have read impacted my thinking was it made me think about how dependent humans are on technology. I have read an article which said that in 2017 a Japanese company will have a fully operational robot farm that will control and harvest crops. I think that this is interesting to see but I'm afraid that if this becomes popular, humans will later depend on robots for food. An example of the Frankenstein complex in one of the articles I have read was that there is a robot that can analyze a person and change how it talks to them.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading articles on Popular Science, i learned the vast power that humans have to create robots with human characteristics. In a article where a Japanese robot annoys people until it gets their attention, and can communicate and have conversations with other humans based on their actions and motions, made me realize how realistic robots with human qualities are in today's society and in the future. At the end of the article, the author says "reading and demonstrating body language will help robots better communicate with humans in the future"( Kelsey Atherton). It is truly scary with the impact that science fiction literature has had on us, to accept the possibilities of a robot who could fully communicate and in turn become like a human.
ReplyDeleteThe article "How I Robot could Control your Smart Home and Become your Butler" made me think how robots could take over human jobs because it said that it could interact with you and provide security when you are not home. It also said that it could scan and create a map of your home and with your phone tell it where you want things put.
ReplyDeleteLooking through some of the articles on these websites and some others, I noticed that a lot of the titles of the articles were things like, “Researchers Develop Robots Capable of Evolving”, and “AI robot that learns new words in real-time tells human creators it will keep them in a ‘people zoo’”. However, these titles are very misleading, as the actual stories beneath the headlines are very tame, as the robot that can “evolve” has only been building other really small robots that have the single capability of moving forward (popsci.com). The robot that said it would put its creators in a “people zoo” said that in what appeared to be a very joking manner, and that it would remember that its creators were its friends, so he would keep them around because of that (glitch.news). Looking at either case, however, these robots are self-aware it seems, and they are doing these actions on their own, which can be a very scary idea, as that could lead to Terminator-like robots.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.popsci.com/researchers-create-robots-species-capable-evolving
http://glitch.news/2015-08-27-ai-robot-that-learns-new-words-in-real-time-tells-human-creators-it-will-keep-them-in-a-people-zoo.html
The technology that I saw made me think about the future. The kind of technology we have on the way is amazing and can help up survive and help us in our daily lives. My favorite technology is the technology that is used to help the military. All that saves people, that is the tech we should be focused on. Now what we see, is the useless tech that just helps our laziness.
ReplyDeleteTechnology is scary, but also helpful and cool. In "DARPA Wants Robots That Can Play Jazz in Time With Humans," and I just find the jazz part interesting because it would only be able to play percussion or guitar unless the manage to make a diaphragm, lungs, and a mouth with fingers to push buttons on instruments. However, the military wants them to play jazz so they know it will work well with humans instead of just throwing them into the field without knowing if they can work with humans. "...creating a machine that can learn appropriate, instant responses to human actions around it is likely to be useful on the robot-infested battlefields of tomorrow. In order for humans and machines to collaborate well, the machines will need to pick up what the humans are putting down." (Atherton) This shows that robots can be nice and helpful, as well as not dangerous. On the other hand, the article "Robotic Surgery Opens Up"(Greenemeier) kind of terrifies and excites me because on one side, robots would probably make less mistakes than humans; but on the other side robots wouldn't have the human touch and might not be able to be successful in surgery. All in all, these articles helped me reconsider the Frankenstein Complex in the sense that I am stuck in the middle of if we should fear robots or be content with them since I can see it from both sides now.
ReplyDeleteThe articles I read in Popular Science impacted my thinking about the technology humans create by simply giving me more insight on what’s happening in the technological world. The articles did make me reconsider The Frankenstein Complex because many of the articles had to do with robots that are replacing people and their jobs. One article about robots at an airport states “Like a self-checkout line at the grocery counter, these robots will save on labor, each one doing the work of five human ticket agents.” This has to do with The Frankenstein Complex because this could possibly lead to a world run completely by robots.
ReplyDeleteThe article I read was "Researchers Can Create Robots That Evolve" By Mary Beth Griggs impacted me in both a positive and negative way. It struck me as potentially positive because Robots could evolve to better humanity both scientifically and physically. It struck me as negative because they could potentially enslave humanity or even destroy it.
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DeleteIt made me think that robots and other technology can serve humans in a good way like the "Pepper" robot that I read about that can serve humans in the workplace or just in general life.But even though the headline was "Drunk Man Kicks Robot,Gets Arrested" it was mainly a blind rage incident caused by alcohol,and not so much a fear for robots.
ReplyDeleteThe article I read on autonomous weapon systems makes me think about how autonomous these systems can get. "The Phalanx is a computer-controlled, radar-guided gun system that can automatically detect, track, and fire at incoming missiles and enemy aircraft," (Paul Scharre and Michael C. Horowitz) from the article Ban Or No Ban, Hard Questions Remain on Autonomous Weapons. If this is the start of self functioning weapons what could come after it? This article and its relation to the Frankenstein complex might come when the weapon system accidentally shoots down something it shouldn't have. This would make people feel scared and worried about what it could do.
ReplyDeleteThe article I read was "Researchers Can Create Robots That Evolve" By Mary Beth Griggs impacted me in both a positive and negative way. It struck me as potentially positive because Robots could evolve to better humanity both scientifically and physically. It struck me as negative because they could potentially enslave humanity or even destroy it. It made me rethink the Frankenstein complex because it made me see the potential danger in something man made.
ReplyDeleteThe article "Glass Brain" made me think about and reconsider the Frankenstein Complex in a different way. This is a technological advancement that projects a real time video of how your brain communicates and how the brain signals work together. "...electrical signals that pulse through the brain at different frequencies as brain cells communicate with one another. A fundamental feature of how our brains work, such communication is related to higher-order abilities like attention, memory and perception" (Larry Greenemeier). In the future, if scientists know the full spectrum of brain activity and how to recreate it, artificial brains could be developed and set to think a certain way, essentially brainwashing the being it is put into.
ReplyDeleteThe Frankenstein complex is the fear of mechanical men, or robots coming sentient. While reading a Popular Science article, it talked about how the military developed a robot that could perform the tasks of a normal human marine. This can spark a fear of what if we go too far for our technology and they somehow spark an uprising, that could spell bad news. This new robot will be able to aid marines by deploying the automated ones instead of the ones alive so there is a lower casualty rate.
ReplyDeleteI read an article on Popular Science about the National Science Foundation (NSF) paying MIT researchers $440,885 to develop robots who would read to and tutor children. I know that science progresses the human race into a more productive and civil species and I can't say I'm surprised that most jobs such as being a police officer or a teacher are being threatened because of the widely unsuccessful rate at which humans in these positions are exhibiting. With the countless cases of police misconduct in the US today, I welcome a 'robo-cop' but amn't as enthusiastic about the complete replacement of teachers, which is where I'm sure this tutor robot is headed. In this very article it was stated that this wasn't the first time the NSF had thrown money at MIT toward creating robots for kids. There was a similar project in 2012 called Breazeal which was implemented for "the techniques that will enable the design, implementation, and evaluation of robots that encourage social, emotional, and cognitive growth in children." For this project the NSF paid a whopping $10 mil.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the Frankenstein complex, which I think is just a form of xenophobia against our own capabilities, I think that I exercise it in the mildest form against this technology. I'm simply worried that if robots do take over the teacher workforce, that students would suffer. I'm afraid that robots would not be able to exercise the same qualities that a teacher would toward a student's struggles; compassion, understanding, being a mentor, taking extra time to educate the students in a way that is effective for the individual.
In two of the articles that I read, "Japanease robot annoys people until they talk to it" and "DARPA wants robot that can play jazz in time with humans" both are humanizing the robots. I think most people are more afraid of robots becoming so much like humans that they take our place and I have to agree. Being perfect versions of ourselves, they are essentially better equipped to handle certain situations and don't have emotions to slow them down. This does change my view on the Frankenstien complex because instead of being afraid of mechinized machines, I think it is more people are afraid of machines becoming more like humans.
ReplyDeleteThe tech that we have now-a-days, it might not be as impossible as we thoug for these technologies to turn on us and grow themselves. But is it impossible for them to finally surpass the Human creator and become the greater species. Maybe not for a while. But looking at the tech we have now Adays and the implements we have for them, anything is possible for the future. But will there come a point when there is nothing left to invent?
ReplyDeleteIn Popular Science, my thinking was impacted by thinking about the technology humans create for and not for our own good. The articles did make me reconsider The Frankenstein Complex because many of the articles had to do with "helping" robots that are replacing people and their jobs. One article about robots at an airport said, “Like a self-checkout line at the grocery counter, these robots will save on labor, each one doing the work of five human ticket agents.” This has to do with The Frankenstein Complex because It could foreshadow the world being on robots and advanced technology to a scale that humans could not catch up to.
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