Does the above picture frighten you? It should. It should chill you to your core.
The freaky robot baby in that picture is one of the most advanced robots in the world. Specially designed to mimic the learning behavior of a human infant, the robot can track things with its eyes, walk around a room, and make me feel uncomfortable from thousands of miles away. The creators of CB2 (Child-robot with Biomimetic Body) hope that the thing will learn how to speak at a two-year old level in the next two years.
While there are probably hundreds of good reasons to develop robots to this level of complexity (many of them are detailed in this article about CB2), I can think of thousands of reasons why it’s not a good idea. Much like the robot scientist who is rapidly replacing lab assistants by making his own discoveries, this freaky robot child is going to someday replace human children.
I mean, hello, didn’t anyone see AI?? Sure, Kubrick died before they actually started filming, and it was right before Haley Joel Osment turned from a talented and endearing child star into a sad and unattractive Hollywood has-been, but the movie still had merit! It taught us that robots, no matter how sweet they are programmed to be, cannot replace our children. In fact, if anything, they’ll grow to resent our obviously inferior intellect and replace us!
So, to help do my part in stopping the spread of robot baby adoption, I present the following YouTube video. Anyone who still wants to have a robot child after watching this video is probably not a human to begin with.
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Thanks for the enlightening and humorous post. Yes, this childbot has engendered some creepy vibes in people. I’m rather curious though about some of the major socio-cultural differences between the U.S. and Japan on the question of humanoids, and why they’re so popular in Japan, while here they’re met with more skepticism.
Let’s get one.
In the words of Dr. Egon Spengler, “I think that would be extraordinarily dangerous.”
Thanks for the comment Zygbot. I think it comes down to traditional depictions of robots in American and Japanese popular culture. Growing up, the exposure that most baby boomers had to robots consisted of science fiction films like The Day the Earth Stood Still where the robot was a menacing figure. It played against traditional American ideals of self-sufficiency and the power of man.
On the other hand, Japanese pop culture has always been geared toward friendly robot-human relations. This is particularly true in Japanese anime, which surged in popularity during the 1970s. This probably also partly explains why research into robotics and other new technologies has always been more prevalent in Japanese society.