Watching the TV show Be Right Back
and learning about this Uncanny
Valley concept made for truly an interesting discussion and
thought-provoking material. The idea that the more humanlike a robot
gets the more eerie or creepy they become to us is fascinating.
But
what struck me as most interesting about both the TV show and the
concept of Uncanny Valley is at what point do we cross the line? For
instance, I think creating a nearly exact simulation of someone who
has died to help someone through a grieving process is crossing the
line. From a psychological perspective I think it is sickening,
actually. A person who has just lost a loved one (like the wife,
Martha, in the tv show) is in a very sensitive state, and they are
extremely emotional often. They can even feel so desperate, that they do absurd
things in an attempt to make them feel 'good'. Or maybe even worse, they
can be desperate enough to not accept the fact the their loved one
has died, and they then attempt to detach themselves from reality.
Instead of moving on and accepting the fact that their loved one has
died, they decide to cling on to the idea of him/her. As we saw in
the TV show, we can see how detrimental this can be to not only the
person who is grieving, but also the people who are acquainted with
or close to them in life. Martha became alienated towards the end of
the show from her friends (and most likely society as well), and she even became so
obsessed (and also ashamed) with Ash 2 that she kept him in the attic
(probably some symbolism there). People die. It is a natural, unfortunate thing we all will have to face. How do we cope? Not by clinging to
the past, but living in the present. Maybe a tough pill to swallow,
but a necessary one.
However,
I honestly truly doubt that we will ever be able to successfully create a
robot that is able to fully pass as a human. And I doubt more-so the
idea that we could create a robot that could pass as someone we know
(like in Be Right Back).
But imagining a scenario where we are able to produce a robot that
looks just like a human and acts just like one is troubling. Why is
it so troubling though? I think that is a very interesting question,
and I am not so sure what that answer might be.
I
think a certain trust factor is involved, and we humans (that is
weird to say..) hate being deceived. But how often do we trust other
people around us? I find that to be very difficult. I am hesitant to
trust anyone. I hardly trust myself!
5 comments:
I believe that the robots are more disturbing the more we become advanced in technology and can make them resemble us. Also I agree that she crossed the line with the almost exact simulation of Ash but could we blame her for buying it or the creators for making them able for people to buy. Very thought provoking.
I think that trusting the creators of the robot would be an important first step in trusting the robot. The creators would have a lot of incentive to manipulate someone like Martha, and it would be easy to do. A robot like the one Martha got could be a very good thing with some guidance (like if she had a counselor).
John:
When you said that, in creating the android, she was doing something detrimental, it reminded me of the Kübler-Ross model of grieving. To put it simply, the process of grieving includes five distinct phases: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance. Like the name suggests, "Bargaining" involves a person psychologically wishing or negotiating to end their grief through some sort of exchange. This can be recognized by statements like, "I would do anything..." or, "I'd give anything for...". Normally it would be impossible to realize these bargains because, despite what we may do, we cannot bring a person back to life. However, perhaps when Martha found a synthetic way to replicate Ash she found an outlet to bargain— she was able to get "Ash" back. Obviously this means that she can never quite get through the grieving process: she can only ignore her grief and/or try and forget that Ash ever died.
Thanks for the responses guys.
Zhariya and John: I like how you mentioned the creators. I feel if we trust the creators we then have a much better chance of trusting the android.
Isaiah: Great observation. I have heard about the 5 stage grieving process, but never really looked into it. Thank you for showing me. The bargaining aspect you brought up is really interesting, especially . And you are right. As long as Martha has Ash 2, she will never complete the process of grieving. She is locked in a state which detaches her from reality. It reminds me in a way of people who lose a pet, and get it stuffed (or whatever you call it) then put it in their living room.
They are afraid of letting go that their beloved pet died.
I forgot all about that grieving process! But as Isaiah stated, I can agree that she is kinda stuck in the bargaining phase. But also, she spent a lot of dough on that android and, if i were to be in her shoes, I wouldn't get rid of it either. Put it to work, let it take out the trash, wash the car, help with the groceries. This way she can just look at the android from a whole different perspective to help move onto that acceptance phase because she figured out that the android wasn't "enough" of Ash 1 to ever be like him.
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