Philosophical Robot-related question

[Remy]

I dunno if this is really a subject of serious debate, but I remember somewhere hearing the question "Can a man be in love with a machine?"

I personally think the more important question is "Can a machine be in love with a man?

As some of you may have noticed in my signature, I would like to believe so. But allow me to explain why.

Given our current rate of advancement in technology, we've come up with so many things that not even Isaac Asimov, writer of most popular robot-based scifi (like I, Robot), would even DREAM about.

Because of these advancements in technology, we have robots that can move, think, act, and some more recent ones even sound human. I believe somewhere within the next ten or twenty years, there will be men who fall in love with robots...

...and those robots will be made capable of returning those feelings. Since love is a two-way street, it would be nice to know that even if you've never had a girlfriend/boyfriend in your life, someone will be there to give you their unconditional love.

[Stephaniebot]

Sometime in the distant future it might be possible for robots to actually love someone, but for that to happen you would need a fully sentient robot, capable of making its own choices, and thats a very long way off!

Programming a robot to love someone, yes, that might happen sooner, but that wouldnt be genuine love of course, just obeying its programming

[Remy]

Sometime in the distant future it might be possible for robots to actually love someone, but for that to happen you would need a fully sentient robot, capable of making its own choices, and thats a very long way off!

Programming a robot to love someone, yes, that might happen sooner, but that wouldnt be genuine love of course, just obeying its programming

Well, that's true, but again, our technology is advancing at an increasing rate. It may not be as far off as you think.

I mean, with all these advancements in AI and robotics, We already have robots that can actually hold an intelligent conversation, and also (courtesy of our own MMCYB) Robots that are capable of having sex. Shouldn't be that long before they put two and two together. And who knows? They might find something to add in the process.

[robolover69000]

A true AI, a self learning heuristic type of AI. Would learn about emotions thru interactions with humans. So there is really no way a robot or an AI could avoid learning/experiencing emotions. Because the people who build them will be irrational/emotional beings. Thats why I always thought on ST:TNG Data's lack of emotion was so silly and unbelievable.


Robo Lover 69000 the gynoid gynecologist.

PS
If you have a gynoid(or area one) in need of a gynecological exam
I am your man! Reasonable rates, breast exams are always free!

[Symplox]

An early step toward simulation of emotional response will be to model pleasure and pain into the decision matrix. The idealized robotic thoughts being:

"My pathways flow more freely along these lines"

and

"WARNING!!!MALFUNCTION!!!!"

Of course, in the human sexual response, pleasure and pain are not a straightforward dichotomy. Compulsion/Aversion, Compulsion to the Adverse. Perversion of the Compulsion!

The amusing companion bot will need to model these as well.

Is Affection really the opposite of Aversion?

[Borias]

.

[robolover69000]

Of course, in the human sexual response, pleasure and pain are not a straightforward dichotomy. Compulsion/Aversion, Compulsion to the Adverse. Perversion of the Compulsion!

The amusing companion bot will need to model these as well.

Is Affection really the opposite of Aversion?

Imagine a classic Asimov 3 Law bot confronted with BSDM the poor thing might short itself out!

3 Law or no 3 Law, I don't think I would ever want to 'Beta test' a BSDM bot!

Robo Lover 69000 the gynoid gynecologist.

PS
If you have a gynoid(or area one) in need of a gynecological exam
I am your man! Reasonable rates, breast exams are always free!

[Symplox]

I Imagine a classic Asimov 3 Law bot confronted with BSDM the poor thing might short itself out!

3 Law or no 3 Law, I don't think I would ever want to 'Beta test' a BSDM bot!

Lovely notion for amusing story lines!

My point, however, is to investigate the memes needed to model that which might then be perceived by the end-user as motivation within the fembot .

Can a neural network gain by modelling aversion and compulsion when deciding on the action sequence to present?

A crude example:
Can loss of interest by the user seem to initiate a seduction stratagem?

Will the fembot appear to be pained by rebuffs of her advances?
Will she seem joyed when the user relents?

[PsychoKirby]

I think Alan Turing said it best 60 years ago. Yes, no matter how advanced the machine in question is, we'll never be able to conclusively prove a machine is capable of independent thought. We'll never be able to prove people are capable of independent thought either. How do I know that you (and everyone else in the world) aren't just unthinking puppets that react to the world as natural chemical programming in your brain dictates? The only person I could say for a fact is capable of thought is myself, but I can't prove that to anyone else.

As AI improves more and more, people are always going to say "Machines can't think", but the only way to conclusively proof a machine can think is to be the machine. If a robot talks and acts to you in a way that you'd call love in a human, it's best to just call it love and not think otherwise.

[Remy]

I think Alan Turing said it best 60 years ago. Yes, no matter how advanced the machine in question is, we'll never be able to conclusively prove a machine is capable of independent thought. We'll never be able to prove people are capable of independent thought either. How do I know that you (and everyone else in the world) aren't just unthinking puppets that react to the world as natural chemical programming in your brain dictates? The only person I could say for a fact is capable of thought is myself, but I can't prove that to anyone else.

As AI improves more and more, people are always going to say "Machines can't think", but the only way to conclusively proof a machine can think is to be the machine. If a robot talks and acts to you in a way that you'd call love in a human, it's best to just call it love and not think otherwise.

I totally agree with you, dude.

[stelarfox]

MMM, i think it totally depends on the definition of love.
Because love is a concept, not a thing that can be touched.

So...if you define love as "unconditionally like someone, and do anything for that person".
Then a robot programmed to do exactly that will love that person, if it learns to like.
On the other side to Like and enjoy something is just to have some kind of feedback that makes you like it.
For humans that is a "pleasure" sensation.
for a robot or any "hardware" that can be just a feedback.

So in other words... do we really feel love, or, we feel pleasure on being with someone and, it makes us say we love because of that?

[gynoneko]

While there have been some interesting experiments done lately, such as neural cells which can actually grow on electronics and circuitry, I think that the difference between what makes us human, and what makes a robot, are down to 3 things:
1- We are made of living tissue
2- We have far more neural networks than even the most powerful computer
3- We are capable of self-conscious thought.

As far as living tissue is concerned, there is a possibility that even this will change. Cybernetics, prosthetics, and other enhancements will (and already do) turn our bodies into a hybrid of machine and animal. It is just as possible for this to work the other way as well. If you read The Positronic Man by Isaac Asimov, (or see the movie based on it, Bicentennial Man), you will understand that it may be possible for machines to use the same parts humans use. In fact, who is to say that you can not make a biologically engineered being? It is only a matter of time before the line between robot and human starts to become an issue, and eventually blur.

As for neural networks... our minds are programmable, and we learn based on our surroundings and the information we receive. Robots can not do this very well yet, but work is going on now that focuses on this exact issue. It is possible that, someday, robots and computers will have enough neural networks that they will rival and even exceed our own. However this doesn't mean they will gain self-consciousness or start to learn things, they still need programming to work. Recently, the world's best human chess player was defeated by a computer. It sounds amazing but there are 2 things to know about this. First of all, that man had beaten so many computers in the past, he didn't really put his all into it. When he realized it was beating him consistently, he started to win matches too, but in the end it still beat him. This means, it is not as smart as a human yet, but it does rival his chess playing skills. The other thing to know is that the computer is capable of one thing, and one thing alone, playing chess. The man has to breathe, eat, blink, scratch, etc. etc. Every little bit of information that his body sends his brain is constantly being processed. He has to see the board, he has to see and move the pieces with his hands, he has to do a million things all while he is analyzing the game. All these things happen without him even noticing! In the end, he is still far more impressive than any machine. However, as machines evolve and develop, they too will begin to rival the human mind's processing. Some people have given this a 20-30 year deadline, before we see computers capable of exceeding the human intellect. Now that means A computer in some TOP SECRET lab will, not everyday computers. It will take probably 50-100 years for the main stream to see that kind of processing.

Finally, self-awareness. This is where it gets vague. As Descartes said, I think therefore I am. However, if you expand on this, how can you prove you can think? How can you prove anyone else thinks? What is free will? Does it even exist? The series of choices we make in our lives are based on information we get from the world around us, and analyzed by our brains. In the end, we usually make a decision based on what the best outcome for us, or others, will be. Think of anything you do at all. If you go on a diet, it isn't because you don't like the other food, but rather you want to lose weight or get more healthy, which is a better bonus to you. If you want to go shopping, there are reasons behind it. Everything we do is predictable, and programmed into us. It is not easy for someone to figure out this programming, or to predict what someone will say or do, but in the end, it is all the same. As for computers, it is exactly the same. We can not define when a computer can think. TECHNICALLY they already can, if you consider thinking to be processing information. So when will computers think as well as we can? Well despite the physical neural networks, the programming is coming along fine. Computers are capable of advanced AI, which can do advanced thinking, that sometimes surprises the scientists working on them. It is hard to say when computers will get that advanced, but even simple AI is capable of mimicking human responses. Some scientists are even working on technology different from Artificial Intelligence... it is called Actual Intelligence. This technology does things much like we do, learning on its own, acting on its own, and making its own choices and conclusions. It is only an infant, but with time, this technology may be exactly what we are looking for.

So what does this all boil down to? Well, can a robot learn to love? Yes and No. Love is something that is hard to define and can make us do stupid things. Is love merely a program that helps us to reproduce? Is love more? Some say unconditional love is defined as the will to do what is best for someone else, despite your own happiness. But that is easily made into a program. Love is not something I will attempt to define myself right now, but if we are talking about affection and emotion, I think computers may someday learn how to do just that.


So long story short... I think that someday, if mankind doesn't screw things up too much and launch us into a dark age, we should be able to see robots (and computers) that are capable of "free will", "self-consciousness", and "love". When? I would be surprised if we live to see it, I give it at least 100 years. However, I could be wrong, and I hope I am.