I knew guys who named their rifles, their vehicles, and their electronic gear and showered those devices with a great deal of care and affection. Why not robots?
U.S. soldiers in Iraq are giving nicknames and forming emotional bonds with bomb-defusing robots they have come to regard as teammates, according to the founder of the company that invented the machines.
IRobot Inc. Chief Executive Colin Angle said one group of soldiers even named its robot “Scooby Doo” and grieved when it was blown up after completing 35 successful missions defusing improvised explosive devices.
“Please fix Scooby Doo because he saved my life,” a soldier told repair technicians, according to Angle’s account at last week’s Future in Review technology conference.
The company is looking at this as a sign people will eventually come to accept household robots as family members. Then again, a lot of people already treat their cars that way.
More links:
Children ‘bond with robots’
My friend, the robot
Even though the movie was a descration of the book, Asimov’s I, Robot is more important today than EVER….
side note: Honda’s ASIMO, is it chance that it’s a robot that’s name is one letter different from the late great genius?
The quote reminds me of the scene in Star Wars (IV) when R2-D2 is coming back from blowing up the Death Star and C3P0 is offering his parts to rebuild him….sad that it is happening, sadder that the first thing that came to my mind is this…
Sex with robots…
Someone had to say it >:)
Nothing wrong with that. Whatever it takes to get the job done!
Serenity..that universe guy had a sex bot. Although…only geeks would buy a sex bot. =P
Threesome! Your girlfriend + your sexbot + you. Woot!
We’re already far-along on this road – regarding pets. I see robots as being the next step in our specie’s long history of “Anthropomorphism”.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropomorphism
[My Father got into the “trivia” craze of the early 80’s, and that mouthful of a word was one he was amazed to stumble upon – such a broad concept distilled into one word].
Case in point, a family was ticked-off that a neighbor ran-over their dog. Neighbor claimed accident, but was convicted of criminal abuse of an animal [it had to be euthanized because of it’s injuries].
Family wasn’t satisfied with 6-months in jail for the neighbor causing the death of their 14-year-old dog, so they filed a civil suit for “Loss of Companionship” …asking for $1.625-Million in damages.
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1148439325249620.xml&coll=7
I am glad to see that the judge threw that part of the suit out, since it normally applies when a spouse has been killed. As one letter to the editor mentioned, they couldn’t sue for that if the guy had killed their child, but there were people hoping to use this case to set a precedent in pet-related cases. [frown]
That would be a nice precedent, wouldn’t it? Then we could look forward to lawsuits if an aquarium pump fails, and the fish’s owner sues the pump manufacturer for “loss of companionship”.
The Uncanny Valley (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_Valley) suggests that: the more the robot is human-like, the more repulsive it will become.
Five is alive!
My 3-year-old son has definitely bonded with our Roomba and Scooba robots. After he turns on the robot and starts cleaning, he jumps up and down while excitedly shouting “Yea! Hooray! Robot!”. If we leave the room, he says “bye bye, robot”. Very adorable.
Just think if the bad guys got ahold of this one. They would start making SuicideBots!! They wouldn’t even need to give it futuristic built-in machine guns and rocket launchers; just give it some make-shift explosives and ohh what fun to watch it blow itself up! While the American troops cry over the death of their beloved robots, the “evildoers” would laugh and cheer when their robot blows itself up! In fact, I bet the TerrorBot would make lots of money in the States. Walk into a bar where everybody is dead-drunk, and say, “Hey, man! I’ve got myself a real-hot SuicideBot! I just use the remote control to steer it where I want, then press the big red button, and it blows itself up!” Arnold Schwarzenegger would definitely buy one.
P.S. #3 I knew you would say that!! You have a dirty mind!!
Case in point, a family was ticked-off that a neighbor ran-over their dog. Neighbor claimed accident, but was convicted of criminal abuse of an animal [it had to be euthanized because of it’s injuries].
Mike, it was Bush’s fault.
“Hey, man! I’ve got myself a real-hot SuicideBot! I just use the remote control to steer it where I want, then press the big red button, and it blows itself up!” Arnold Schwarzenegger would definitely buy one.
James, You are a sick kid. Obviously you need some help.
Dear Mr. Fusion,
Can’t you get a joke when you see it?????
#13
If you can’t laugh at the terrorists, they’ve won!!
Hey everybody!! Read the stuff by Mr. Fusion and you’ll notice he either criticizes President Bush, me, or both.
#3. Angel, this is the ultimate goal of man. Imagine one day when you can buy a robot that is indistinguishable to your dream woman. Her hair, eyes, even her body temperature would be exactly real. The difference would be that you could program her to react in any way you wish. She could become your sex slave. She would do all house chores without complaining. You can walk around outside with her as your trophy. AND you wouldn’t have to spend a dime on her! (except for regularly scheduled robotic maintenance– DAMN! sex will never be free). The world would be a better place.
#8. Corey, I made the same comment on the Bill Gates wax doll blog entry without having read yours first. Coincidence can be uncanny too. Newton/Leibniz and Alexander Bell/Elisha Gray are popular examples of two independent people coming up with the same idea.