Can't Think of a Snazzy Title

Class recently has been quite interesting with the thought-inducing topic of The Uncanny Valley. First of all, I have to admit that I am a big fan of action/sci-fi movies involving futuristic scenarios with the fate of the world hanging in the balance. After watching the robotics clips during class on Wednesday, I am realizing that we have made great advances in robotic technology recently, going so far as to create robots that are almost indistinguishable from humans. This is where the Uncanny Valley comes into play. To begin with, I find the idea of "thinking," human-like robotics to be a very scary, dangerous concept. However, I do believe that using robotic technology in the field of medicine is extremely important. On this note, I am curious to know exactly how much the Uncanny Valley comes into play when the robotic in question is faceless. That is, does the Uncanny Valley come into effect for something along the lines of an extremely advanced prosthetic arm? Let's say this prosthetic arm looks, moves, and feels extremely close to a real human arm, but there was, in fact, something off about it, meaning one could tell that it wasn't quite real. In instances like this, how much influence does the Uncanny Valley have? In my opinion, I believe the actual face of the robotic in question plays the biggest part in how we receive these technologies, as the face is where we as humans take in much of our information about an individuals.

Also, after discussing the movie "Be Right Back" in class today, the idea of intelligent robotics sits even worse with me. The idea that one can be essentially "recreated" after death in a robotic body is unsettling. I hold fast to my belief that this is highly immoral. It is extremely disrespectful to a person's being to assume that they can be essentially recreated through programming in a robotic body. How could there even be a realistic hope to place a person's entire essence into a program? I find this idea to be outlandish at best. Human beings are more complex than any programmed robot could ever hope to be. To even begin to attempt this is insulting to what God has created. Furthermore, humans have no business playing God. We have made so many advances in technology that we are losing the fine line between helpful and hurtful, and the advancements in robotics are no exception. We must look to the future with caution lest we take our technology too far.