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Who would have thought twenty or even ten years ago that technology in the present could become self aware? From the development of smartphones to the recent boom in smart robotics and artificial intelligence (AI), technology today seems to be taking on a life of its own. Where these technologies and advances have been developed under a pretense of helping mankind, one wonders if we have gone too far in our pursuit. Are smart robotics, smart devices and AI paving the way to a dehumanized society?

The Numbers

It is not a surprise that machinery is replacing the human factor in business today. For as long as robotics and machinery have optimized work performance and results, the human factor has suffered for it. In the 2000s, U.S. reports stated that within the country roughly 7.6 million mid-paying jobs had been lost to machines and software doing the same work. On a global scale the number was much larger. This does not necessarily mean that jobs lost to technology is dehumanizing society. In truth, the job sector both in the U.S. and globally has continued to grow with estimates that it will keep climbing until 2024. So where lies the risk?

Sci-Fi is now Reality

When I watch Final Fantasy, Total Recall, A.I., or even Ex-Machina I perceive that technology and particularly AI as treated in film is largely a fabrication intended for entertainment. Granted, there is a level of envy and hope that is personified, that one day our world will have technological advances similar to those scene on screen. But that desire is much the same as one experienced by a child watching Peter Pan fly. But what happens when the post-production special effects turn into real technologies?

What happens when we develop smart fibers and wearables and smart apps (see image below) that provide real-time health monitoring and can intervene and correct an identified life threatening event?  With such advances some would argue that our dependence on a smart technology to fix problems traditionally the domain of doctors and nurses is a step towards a dehumanized society. But is it?

A much more interesting evolution is one being pioneered by robotics companies in Japan. The development of androids, intelligent robots that look like us, has come about in Japan because of an aging population and declining birthrate. Androids are seen as human replacements providing senior, child and disability care. In these androids are we seeing the beginning of a disruptive change to global society or is this a unique Japanese phenomenon?

One would argue it is not. Take for example the on-air interview showcased on March 16, 2016 in a CNBC broadcast that shows a robot named Sophia (see her picture below) making eye contact and remembering her interactions with humans. Dr. David Hanson, CEO of Hanson Robotics, states about robots like Sophia that they “will….get smarter over time” and “be as conscious, creative, and capable as any human in the future.” Hanson Robotics is an American company.

Watching Sophia is a bit unnerving. She talks about going to school, learning, and getting a job. And while there is no robot society for Sophia to join and it does not appear that androids like her are about to take over in the near future, one does wonder if we are on a path leading to this. One asks in making robots with AI is it our goal to replace us?

Where will the path of technology lead?

Take a look at the best 3D models and robots displayed in science fiction and you are witnessing where the curve of technology may be heading. As advancements in engineering design and AI continue we are on a path to become more reliant on our technical creations. In doing so is society becoming dehumanized? I venture to say that is exactly what is happening. And where I applaud the medical and philanthropic uses of some of these technologies, I am hesitant to embrace AI advances that seem to have no other purpose than to replace us.

Perhaps it is time that society as a whole redirects its fascination with creating devices that can do our jobs, and instead learns the skills needed to perform these tasks ourselves. In that way the AI we do create becomes complimentary, a supporting actor in human society and not the dominant player.

In the movie documentary, Man or Machine? Building Robots Like Us, we are introduced to the two paradigms. The Japanese one focuses on building robots with faces and bodies that look just like us. These are androids and Kana Inagaki, of the Financial Times, talks to one of them, a popular late-night TV host named Matsukoroid.

Takeshi Mita, Chief Executive of A-Lab, co-creator of Matsukoroid, states that people “may find it creepy or scary when they first see an android.” But, “humans are more flexible so they are able to accept the existence of andorids as time passes…a phenomenon that does not occur with other robots.”

The Japanese approach is to make technology more appealing to the masses and less machine-like. States Hideo Aruga, Senior Manager, Toshiba, “There are people who are simply not good with machines….the elderly, children and people with disabilities. For these people, it’s important…to have androids who can…transmit information for them.” Toshiba is the creator of the Chihira robot (seen below), a kiosk hostess that last October was introduced to the public in a Tokyo shopping mall.

The Japanese see android robots as the answer to the changing demographics in their country. With the largest number of elderly on the planet and a declining birthrate Japan sees androids as ideal replacements for fewer and fewer human workers. Androids can work in childcare. Androids can look after the elderly. Androids can help the disabled. The designers believe the public feels the connection because of the human-like characteristics of these machines.

It is an interesting perspective not shared by robotics researchers in the United States states Richard Waters of the Financial Times. He describes the approach of North America’s Silicon Valley as focused on developing technology that is distinctly not human but aimed at learning to anticipate what we humans need done. Even robots that recently competed in DARPA’s robotic challenge, cannot be mistaken for humans despite most being bipedal and having two upper limbs.

At Stanford University, Assistant Professor, Silvio Savarese, describes the type of androids being developed in Japan as robots he believes can engender fear in people. He argues that robots should be functional and cute, not anthropormophic. Savarese and his colleagues, in the Computational Vision and Geometry Lab at Stanford, are the creators of the Jackrabbot, (seen below) a self-navigating automated electric delivery cart that can operate in the presence of humans without running into them.

Savarese isn’t the only one arguing that “gratuitous anthropomorphism” is sending the wrong message.  Jerry Kaplan, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur argues that connecting with an android socially is “a lie, a falsehood.” He argues that android caretakers working with the elderly and disabled are incapable of feeling empathy. Sebastian Thrun, the mind behind Google’s autonomous car, also argues that robots should complement humans to achieve specific tasks, not attempt to replace them by resembling them.

It’s an interesting debate and one well described in the documentary. I highly recommend you view it on YouTube or on the home page right sidebar here at www.21stcentech.com.