TEDxSalford

A Future Of Robots

Ever since I was a boy I’ve been fascinated with robots. In particular, I remember watching the film ‘Short Circuit’ and becoming mildly obsessed with protagonist Johnny 5 – who by nature of the film’s title becomes accidently sentient  - and of whom I even built a somewhat crude lego replica. In retrospect Johnny was anachronistic: the technology required to produce him doesn’t exist, even today. In spite of this though, he and other figures throughout the decades have kept robots alive in the popular imagination. I’m certainly not the only one who grew up expecting robots to be a big part of the future. So, where are they?

Well, firstly what is a robot? In recent years, identifying what exactly is meant when we say ‘robot’ has become a problem in itself. Is a fridge which can programmed to order new food, dishes, or housemates at the press of a button a robot? No. At least not for the sake of this article. What we are talking about here are those items which you can sense to be a robot just by looking at them; something which is already apparently a robot without the use of abstract reasoning. This definition can’t really stand up to much philosophical scrutiny, but I have faith that you will know what I mean when I say that, roughly speaking, when I say robots, I’m talking about machines like Johnny 5.

Though there is an evident lack of robots in my house, discovering the progress being made in robotics in 2013 is easy enough: we have the internet and, along with a bounty of TED talks, Youtube offers a plethora of videos from the , the , the , to the borderline . Admittedly we can see most robots are either functioning as a glorified toy, performing a colourful novel function; are designed for military use; or are a work in progress. ASIMO, Honda’s charming humanoid, for example, is sophisticated but not quite at the level whereby he would be genuinely useful – yet.

So the domestic robot revolution, if there is to be one, still lies ahead of us. In fact, the word revolution is probably far too strong. The process will likely be a gradual one, so much so that by the time robots are normal it may seem as if they snuck upon us surreptitiously; we may even feel like they were here all along, much like our relationship with smartphones. But if such a change is coming, how do we prepare? 

Well, luckily we have a TED playlist handy to give us a fighting chance: “How to live with robots” provides nine different sets of ideas and insights into the ways in which robots will become more pervasive in society; and how we will, or should, react to this. Of the nine videos the one that really grabbed my attention was David Hanson’s talk on “Robots that show emotion”. Not only does Hanson wear a truly fine moustache, but, more pertinently, he also shows us the “characters” his company Hanson Robotics have been developing. These characters are robotic heads being taught how to respond to body language; more precisely, how to read faces.

Recognising how we feel, it is argued, will allow the robot to respond empathetically, or at least, appear to. Interestingly, in setting a goal of teaching robots how to understand us, Hanson has opened the door for a meaningful debate on the merits and meaning of simulated empathy. 

I think I can safely extend our Johnny 5 definition of robots from earlier to cover certain prosthetic limbs. There are at least two pop culture figures who have had “robotic” appendages – Luke Skywalker (Star Wars) and David Lister (Red Dwarf) and in both cases the electronic additions are easily identifiable as robotic. Anybody with geeky tendencies has surely wondered what this like and, away from the land of fiction, much real progress has been made. While Hanson and teams like his aim to tackle the task of programming emotional feelings, in other words, to humanise the computer, admirable work is also being undertaken in prosthetics – with the goal being to fully restore a given person’s tactile feelings – bringing people and technology together in a different sense. Engineer and physiatrist (a doctor of physical rehabilitation) Todd Kuiken gives us in his heartwarming talk “A prosthetic arm that feels” an explanation of some of the most remarkable achievements of technology today, whilst simultaneously outlining the incredible possibilities for future prosthetics. 

One final and perhaps obvious place to look for Johnny 5 is in combat. In his 2009 TED talk at Long Beach California “Military robots and the future of war,” P.W Singer teaches us how technology is reshaping the battlefront. He touches on the problems that arise as soldiers increasingly become engaged in combat remotely – both senses of this word apply – and speaks prophetically about what to expect in the coming years. From the perception of the general public, the moral and ethical conversations surrounding technology have begun to change. Light hearted Terminator jokes add a dash of irony to make serious discussion more palatable – but the possible dangers are a perceivable reality we really need to talk about. 

Some of these issues have gained press attention, specifically the nature of unmanned drones. If you’re in the mood to really excite some grey matter then you can get a flavour of the debate by reading these two articles from The Guardian: in the first, Bradley Strawser, assistant professor for the defense analysis department at the US Naval Postgraduate School, offers a case for the use of drones; in the second the Human Rights Watch (HRW) put the case against.

Regardless of how seriously you take or look into the issues, it might help to imagine these moral problems as providing the stage lighting of contemporary robotics. Progress is being made in many areas on set and the achievements are amazing; but behind each increasingly advanced Johnny 5 we choose to display, a large grey shadow is cast.