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Navigating The Blog

As I was finding out new things, I posted on the blog. This means that runs chronologically from bottom to top. 

The title reflects the theme/ topic of the post

Found information such as colours, statistics and figures are in italics

Quotes are also in italics, “like this”

Bold, underlined text contains a link, like this

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Symbols/ Logos

Detroit: Become Human

Cyberlife

This is the company logo for Cyberlife, who make the androids in the video game ‘Detroit: Become Human’.

Uprising

These are the symbols of the android rebellion in Detroit: Become Human

Fallout

The Institute

Most prevalent in the game ‘Fallout 4′, The Institute make robots, and are primarily used in war and research.

Deepmind

This AI was created to attempt to better the field of AI learning, and is applied in the field of healthcare. 

Canvas Technology

This company was aquired by Amazon, and the main purpose of it is to provide automatic deliveries

Left Hand Robotics

The main goal of this robotics company is to increasing efficiency for businesses. “We enable our customers to complete jobs faster, so they can take on more projects”

Bluefin Robotics

Bluefin Robotics make robots that are designed to travel and be used underwater. One of the problems this solves is people having to be put in risk situations. They are used for other purposes, though. “many of which [vehicles] address critical defense requirements such as mine countermeasures (MCM), environmental protection and monitoring, port and harbor security, unexploded ordnance (UXO), rapid environmental assessment (REA), and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR)”.

A common trend among these symbols and logos is simple geometric shapes and limited colours. I have noticed that they seem to use different tones of the same colour, which are usually blue, orange or greys. Perhaps these features convey efficiency, as a lot of the companies have a focus on efficiency.

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Tackling COVID-19

Business Insider shows how different nations are using robots to fight the current coronavirus crisis here.

“The worldwide death toll of the coronavirus disease that originated in Wuhan, China, is now more than 17,000, and the virus has infected more than 398,000 people”

At the moment, the World Health Organisation and other experts have advised us to stay away from other people as much as possible. This is where robots shine, as they can complete tasks for us so that we don’t have to come into contact with each other.

Robots are being used to deliver items, prepare food and much more. Here are some examples from the article:

“A patrol robot in a Shenyang, China, hospital checks temperatures and disinfects people and spaces”

“A hospital in Ezhou has incorporated a robot chef into its kitchen”

“The robot can reportedly produce 100 pots of rice per hour”

“Startup Asimov Robotics launched two robots to spread awareness of the coronavirus in India”

“The robot has video and audio so people can still talk while sheltering at home, keeping the most vulnerable people socially connected”

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Robots Replacing Humans

There is a theme in today’s society of robots taking manual labour jobs from humans, and this could be creating some of the anxiety that exists around robotics.

I found this article by Voice of America, which talks about it.

“the movement toward automation has been a relatively slow one. But he notes that several estimates have shown up to 10 percent of jobs could disappear”

“The agency has noted that almost 200,000 Hungarian jobs could be fully automated over the next 10 years”

“Hungary’s economy grew nearly 5 percent last year, and manufacturing investments rose at the fastest rate in three years. Yet the industry lost nearly 23,000 jobs, ending six straight years of employment growth”

These changes seem to have been, at least partially, brought on by increasing wages of workers over time.

“pressured by increasing wages and falling prices, all of the company’s recent investment of over $3 million was spent on automation”

“the company plans to automate the rest of its physical work after a 50 percent jump in operator wages over the past three years”

However, this company has somewhat tackled the issue of people being left without a job.

“The company has not yet cut any of its 400 jobs. Its owners have found other positions for those whose work robots have replaced”

Replacing humans may not always be a bad thing. I found another article, which I will discuss in my next post, that talks about this.

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Robot Science Museum, Seoul

Whilst looking for robotics exhibitions, I found out about a museum in Soeul that doesn’t yet exist. The reason that this museum caught my eye is because it is going to be built by robots. According to this article by Dezeen, “Parts of the structure will be moulded, welded, assembled and polished by robots”. Many other parts of the contrustion will also be carried out by robots. This idea is interesting, as it is actively using and showing the real-world functionality of robotics, rather than just displaying them. 

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Robotics Exhibitions

I have attached some locations for exhibitions, which focus on robotics. 

Science Museum

National Museum of Scotland

V&A Dundee

Robotics and Automation Show, Coventry

iREX International Robot Exhibition, Tokyo

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C-3PO

During the programme Machine Men, C-3PO is also mentioned, along with the concept art for him.

This art by Ralph McQuarrie shows C-3PO in the foreground of a different planet. He is a striking gold colour, which matches the warm oranges and yellows of the desert behind him. This palette is unique when compared to other robots in science fiction in the 70s, which were usually silver with buttons that are saturated colours. He also has an elegant form, and although he is clearly a robot, his pieces are made to look smooth and bespoke rather than clunky and square. 

According to this article by The Vintage News, this uniqueness was important to George Lucas. He wanted the Star Wars universe to appear “futuristic and different from the typical science fiction image at that time”.

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Humans Becoming Robots

Whilst talking to my sister, I asked her if she thinks that robots are getting in the way of everyday human interaction. This was her reply:

“I’m worried that we’re all gonna have chips in us and we’re all gonna turn into part-robots”.

A problem arrises here of identity; what does it mean to be human? Where is the line between human and robot? These are questions that I have already explored in regards to robots becoming human, but humans becoming robots is slightly newer territory.

During Machine Men, Donovan brings up the topic of Doctor Who’s original Cybermen. These are organic life forms that have slowly become more and more mechanical over time. As quoted by one of the Cybermen, “Our lifespan was getting shorter, so scientists and doctors devised spare parts for our bodies, until we could be almost completely replaced”

No amount of flesh on the Cybermen is visible, and the only clue that they are partially organic comes from their complex motor functionality.

At what point, however, do the Cybermen stop being ‘human’ and start being robots during this complete transformation? In response to the Cybermen, one of the characters says, “but that means you’re not like us. You’re robots!”.

During the transition period between mechanical and organic, the Cybermen are neither fully human nor fully robotic. Kim Newman provided an adequate decription:

“The Cybermen are, strictly speaking, not robots.just as the Daleks, strictly speaking,aren’t robots, they are cyborgs”.

This article by Radio Times poses the question, “what does it mean to be human?”. This is something that my friend mentioned when talking about androids like those from ‘Detroit: Become Human’. 

According to the author, the robots or cyborgs presented in media are products of society at the time. They state “Cybermen were reflections of the era that created them”. Ideas for them were sparked by “innovations in prosthetic surgery and the ethical issues it brought with it”. 

Dr Kit Pedler and writer Gerry Davis wanted to explore the idea of humans being mixed with robots, and whether doing so could take away our humanity.

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Humanity in Robots

The last thing that my friend mentioned when discussing robots is the potential to create a robot with advanced enough A.I. to be considered human.

The issue here lies in more philosophical themes of the sense of self. If robots are created with a purpose and a job, but become advanced enough to be self aware, should they have rights? Perhaps there will be a tipping point, at which we can no longer condemn intelligent robots to a life of working for human.

An example that is given is ‘Detroit: Become Human’, which is a video game that revolves around 3 intelligent androids trying to make their way through life.

In this trailer, the android (Named Kara) appears to be almost human in appearance, apart from distinguishing details such as the light on her head or her clothes. It is only when you look closely that you notice that she has smooth skin and a symmetric face in comparison to the humans. Here, Kara is seen being mistreated by a human, which could conjure up negative or uncomfortable feelings in the player.

In this situation, the player gets to choose what Kara does. This makes them project humanity onto her, as the player is having to make moral choices on her behalf. Interestingly, in this example Kara seems to be more relatable or maybe even human than the man. This is because she is given the option to try to help a child, whereas the man is being cruel and abusive. 

The colours of the features that make the androids immediately distinguishable from humans are blue, grey and white. They are also glowing, which makes them look more electronic than plain colours.

This is a very different interpretation of what intelligent robots would look like than that of the past. In Machine Men, Kim Newman, a writer and critic, says that the series ‘A for Andromeda’ is about “a worker’s revolt in the future by artificially created humanoid workers”. In the context of that film, the sense of self has lead to an uprising of robots and the desire to end mankind. In contrast, the sense of self in ‘Detroit: Become Human’ has lead the androids to become capable of thinking through complex ethical conundrums in the same way humans do.

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Social Impact

Another thing that the person who I spoke to was concerned about was how robots may affect our natural human interactions.

Here, they talk about the human need for social interaction. Self-checkout machines are used as an example of how robots may be interrupting our daily encounters with other people. 

In contrast, I found a piece of research from The Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, which suggests that robots may help some people with social interaction. 

This study followed 4 children with autism to observe their interaction with adults, a computer game, and a social dinosaur robot. Researchers found that “children spoke as much to the robot as to the adult interaction partner”.

These findings show that robots may be a good candidate for helping children who have autism with becoming more comfortable and confident with social interaction in humans. 

I found this study interesting, and decided to speak to my sister about it to see what she thought. There are some issues that she found when it comes to using robots for social therapy in children with autism. 

The first one is that robots programmed by adults tend to act like adults; they are intellectual and speak in-depth. This may be harmful for the development of a child, as they might not learn how to socialise with other children.

Another one is that speaking with a robot can deprive these children of the nuances that come with normal human interaction.This could also be detrimental to the social development of a child with autism. 

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Warfare

When I spoke to a friend about robots, they mentioned drones being used “liberally” in Syria during Obama’s presidency. According to the BBC, “Drones are used in situations where manned flight is considered too risky or difficult”. They have no pilot and are commonly known for being used as weapons, or tools for the military.

I found a website, which keeps track of the drones used in Syria, and their impact on civilians. In this particular article, the author (Chris Cole) talks about recent drone activity. “seven strikes between them are thought to have killed  41 civilians including 11 children”. Cole puts into question the morality of using drones, by stating that “drones appear to be transferring the risk of warfare away from combatants onto the shoulders of civilians”.

Regarding the impact of drones on civilians, Cole links this article. After reading it, I found that those who are most affected by drone warfare are people who live in war-torn countries, such as Syria, Iraq and Somalia. For example, this article mentions that air strikes have “killed at least 1,257 civilians in Iraq and Syria as of the end of January”.

Furthermore, the article talks about the total destruction caused to these countries by air attacks being even worse;

“Airwars, a university-based monitoring group, estimates that those strikes killed at least 7,500 civilians in those countries”.

After making the person I spoke with aware of the first website mentioned, this was their response:

They mention the theme of the wall between human being killed and human operating the drone, which I touched on earlier. In general, I have found that people tend to be worried about the moral implications of using drones, due to their impact on human life and making destructive decisions easier.

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New Topics

I asked a friend “what is your opinion on robotics? (In real life or in fiction)” with no further information or prompting. I wanted to see what they would say without me skewing their responses.

From the beginning, they show a clear split in opinion. On one hand, robots can be used to help humanity, on the other, they can be used to cause harm.

Here, they talk about their concern surrounding the effectiveness of A.I. This echoes the narrative of old sci fi shows that I spoke about earlier, which portrays the villain robot without morals. 

However, here this person introduces a real-world example of robotics being used in a way that is destructive and scary. This may not be the same as a villain robot using its programming to harm humans. Although, creating a wall between people being killed and people carrying out the killing using drones is a step in that direction.

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A.I. Artificial Intelligence

‘Super Toys Last All Summer Long’ was famously adapted into a film called ‘A.I. Artificial Intelligence’, which was directed by Steven Spielberg. By adapting the short story into a film, the idea of robots having human emotion and being able to empathise with them was brought to a different and much wider audience.

Throughout this trailer, imagery is used that conveys David as almost human, and almost a robot. In this way, the viewer can empathise with both the human family and the robot child. Perhaps it also makes us wonder about the future of robotics in the real world, and question how we might react to a convincingly human-like robot.

Mostly muted colours such as periwinkle, greys and desaturated blues are used in the colour palette for David. This is unusual, as so far I have mostly noticed bright, saturated and metalic colours.

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Challenging Ideas

The expressionless robots that were prevelant in science fiction is decribed in Machine Men as the “clunky villains”. 

However, this idea was questioned by people such as Brian Aldiss, who wanted to change the way in which we see the potential of robots. Aldiss wrote Supertoys Last All Summer Long. In this story, we see the relationship between a mother and a robot child.

We can see emotion in this robot child, and readers are compelled to project humanity onto it. 

In this story, the robot child named David writes his mother a letter, which says 'Dear Mummy, I hope you're well just now. I love you....'.

In reference to this letter, David then says, "It isn't quite right. She won't understand", therefore introducing a disconnect between the human mother and the child. We can see here that David has tried to show affection towards his mother before, but it hasn’t worked.

Since David is presented as life-like and naive, just like a human child, the reader feels sympathy towards him. Using this story, Aldiss has allowed people to see and connect with robots in a way that they never have before. 

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Robots - Machine Men

These clips of robots were placed towards the beginning of the programme and show robots from science fiction. They are usually metal, silver, stiff and expressionless. This occurance was explained by somebody who was interviewed during the programme:

“Robots are an archetype, which allows us to portray pure intelligence without the ability to differentiate between good and bad”

He then decribes this as creating a “moral vaccum”.

These robots are easy to understand because they are very distant from humans, and we see them as having no emotion or ethics. They are easy to turn into villain characters, because they do morally wrong things out of instruction or logic, rather than reason or spite.

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Imagery in Publications

found in eye magazine vol. 17 nos. 65-68 2007-08, St Peter’s House Library

Pictured here is an image by Eduardo Paolozzi in eye magazine that has been taken from Ambit no. 23, 1970. Similarly to the robot from Lost in Space, this robot is clearly mechanical but has some human qualities, such as the arms and the head.

found in eye magazine vol. 17 nos. 65-68 2007-08, St Peter’s House Library

In frames from a stop-motion by Fernando Leal , the robot isn’t human-like at all. It is very mechanical looking and mostly silver, with some red and green lights/ buttons. This version of a robot, like other fictional robots, shows a complex machine that is capable of a lot more than what they can do in reality. It is being used in a lighthearted context to create outlandish imagery and humour.

found in eye magazine no. 86 vol. 22 2013, St Peter’s House Library

Paolozzi again explores the idea of robots in this screen print, titled Metallization of a Dream. This version also steers away form depicting robots with human features, and instead leans more into the mechanical side. Main coloured used here are blue, black, red and yellow. These are all bright, block colours which only mix to indicate shading.

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Interview

I spoke to somebody about robots to see if I could find any of the themes, which I have discovered through research so far, in what they say. 

Question: What are robots?

Answer: “A robot is a man-made mechanical object that is designed to do certain things; to do specific tasks”

This person’s definition lines up well with the definition that I found in the NASA article that I wrote about earlier.

Question: What do you imagine when I say “robot”?

Answer: “I imagine a robot that looks like a person”

What this tells me is that the fictional idea of a robot is something that people may carry with them when they think about robots in general, even when they know the distinctions. Perhaps this is a remnant of the past when we weren’t sure about what robots may be able to do given time and development, mixed with what we know in hindsight.

During this conversation, I asked about what people may have imagined in the past when picturing robots. They gave the example of Lost in Space, which is a programme that aired between 1965 and 1968 originally.

These robots were mostly silver and glass, with visible buttons and light indicators. It has small areas of red, yellow and green, mostly on the buttons and ‘hands’. They seem to have basic human-like features, such as a head and arms. Their voices have very little inflection and sound synthetic.

This design plays into the human tendancy to personify robots, whilst also avoiding the uncanny valley. Therefore, this rendition of a robot is both likeable and non-threatening to viewers of the show.