Someone in class recently mentioned a robot that was able to learn things that were not already programmed. After first hearing this, I was amazed and slightly impressed that this is possible. But after thinking harder on the topic, it became a little frightening. I would like to think that what sets human apart from animals and other beings in this world is our ability of higher thinking and a great capacity for learning. The fact that we can now create something out of metal and other products that can learn and adapt to the world around us scares me. It reminds of Sci-fi films where the robots rise up and attack the human or decide that they no longer need to follow human commands. While this may be far fetched, a few years ago a thinking robot was far fetched. Whatever happened to the values of humans? Why are we constantly trusting machines to do our jobs for us? When will technology go to far? I think we need to step back and really examine what is necessary and what we have created out of laziness.
Much of the technology around us is unnecessary. Do we really need an electronic device to read? I believe that that is why books are printed. It is not that hard to carry around a book instead of a Kindle or the Sony Reader. A physical book has much more intrinsic value that you cannot get with a plastic piece of technology. I do like the idea of being to download a book quickly and have it almost instantly at my finger tips, but I do not want to spend a couple hundred dollars on this technology when I could buy dozens and dozens of used books for that price. Another piece of unnecessary technology are cell phones that can do everything a computer can do. While it is convenient to be able to check your email when you're out on the run, it is not entirely necessary. These are fairly new pieces of technology that we lived without for years, yet now people seem like if your phone cannot access the Internet it is dull and useless. And do you really need dozens of applications, also commonly called apps, on your cell phone? No one needs to play racing games or role playing games on their cell phones. For the younger generation, look at your parents and grandparents. They have been able to lead a large part of their lives without this technology. We may be able to learn a thing or two from them and reconsider the human value that individuals bring and become a more accomplished and technology independent society.
4 comments:
This topic also interested me and I had the same reaction. When we hear these stories of advancement in technology I feel that engineers and scientist often have a thought process of ‘what if we could’ and then before they know it they have some great machine and don’t stop to ponder the question ‘what if we should’. It reminds me of the movie I, Robot starring Will Smith. In the movie robots take a mind of their own and kill human civilians. If you have the ability to create a robot that doesn’t have to be programmed in order to learn something, it will only be a matter of time before that robot will have the ability of free will. This would be a technological advancement that I feel would greatly harm the human race or maybe I’ve just seen too many Sci-Fi movies.
As long as we run the robots on Windows there is no danger of an uprising; just move really fast, or ask the robot to do a bunch of stuff at once ;)
(2/11)The title of this post attracted my attention. I am also frightened by the wide range of technology that shapes the world in which we live. Given how far technology has come, from the Age of the Enlightenment, to what it is today, is there any limit to how far technology can develop? I don't think the most advanced technology has even been laid a finger on yet and there will be future technology that has never been dreamed of that will continue to shape the way in which we live, and in many ways that were thought to once be impossible.
I am truly frightened by what technology has is store for us say 100 years down the road, and I don't think self thinking robots will be anything but normal at that time. By then it won't be farfetched to have robots performing medical surgeries, fixing cars, and operating machinery. I think at this time, people won't get paid for the physical skills they possess, but for how well they can control a robot to do what they want. There are so many questions about what form technology will take place in down the road, and the unpredictable future of it is somewhat frightening to me.
I find it amazing that in such a short period of time in history, that we can move from the printing press to a device like the I-Pad, which allows for constant connection with the internet, people, cyborg campfire blogs, updates, books, etc. The past 400 years has been an amazing and unreal advancement of technolgoy, and what the future holds for us is unsure. I do take another stance though, and that is that technology is on a slow decline. It is not that there are brand new, never seen before products, but rather improved devices. Companies are just combining what we already have into one. We should be afraid of technology and what it does hold for us.
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