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Jared’s ENG1121 Blog

Technology is all around us nowadays. Many can say that a majority of their lives are intertwined with technology. It helps us wake up in the morning, get through the day, and it’s still with us at the end of the day to help us go to sleep. We’re seeing many advancements in technology nowadays that soon enough we might even have our own personal robots like the ones shown in the film I, Robot. With these advancements we are seeing an uptick of anthropomorphism in technology and ways to make the technology seem more human. However, I believe that no matter how advanced technology gets, it will never become human. Attributing human characteristics to non-humans or inanimate objects is something we as humans have been doing since we were able to think. One early example is when humans started to name their boats. As author Dan Moloney points out, “logically, there’s no reason to give an inanimate object like a boat a name”. If it doesn’t make logical sense to give a boat a name then why even do it? One possible reason that Moloney believes is that it could’ve been easier for humans to travel an unknown space if they felt connected to their boat and as a result, trusted its abilities. It’s important to note that even though the boat is given a name and can be considered a member of the boat’s crew, the boat isn’t human in the slightest sense. Humans are much more than their names, we think, feel, and dream.

The idea that as we make more advanced tech that it should feel more human instead of cold and unfeeling is something we’re beginning to see with companies using robots in areas like hospitality. It makes sense that companies would start to use these robots since it allows for cheaper costs of labor and it can be seen as safer after having the COVID-19 pandemic. Since they’re being used more and more they’re being designed to appear more human-like. This doesn’t always fly so well since “faces of robots with increased human-likeness are judged to be less likable and regarded as creepy and scary” by both customers and workers alike. One reason companies want the robots to look more human-like is because they want them to be more approachable and user friendly. Once again, even though a robot has a more human face it still doesn’t make them human. They can’t move or think like a human. I don’t think there’s much of a point in having these robots appear more human-like when that becomes their only defining characteristic. While everyone is focused on what customers think about these new robots, few are realizing the effects it has on the workers these robots are being designed to replace. Some, like Shum et al, point out that “to escape from the fear of service robots, employees may have no other alternative but to leave the hospitality industry”. Additionally, employees might find themselves “gravely concerned about their contribution to the future of the hospitality industry”. I don’t agree with the logic behind making the robots more human-like if this is the end goal. If anything the idea should be to “view AI as a partner (or “copilot”)” since it “might allow us to evolve as a society with the partnership of AI, a system that is highly attune to a single task”. There’s no need to make every AI or robot more human-like if the end goal is getting help completing a task. I think this sets us up to get used to having robots in control of every aspect of our lives and while that may be good for some it will eventually lead us to trust in something cold and unfeeling. Instead I think that for now it should only be used when it’s appropriate, for instance healthcare.