Limited Stock

    Can a human being be replaced after his or her time on earth has passed? And can that replacement be satisfied with a highly advanced robot? These were the questions that lingered in my mind after watching Be Right Back. It is interesting to think and imagine that, quite possibly, we well soon develop the technology to be able to accomplish this replacement. There already are today robots that closely resemble the appearance of a living human being. 

    Human beings are a unique species. In all of history, there will never be two people that are exactly the same. This adds value to human life. We are each unique individuals with a time limit on this planet to live life as we choose. But what if a robot was able to be programed to behave exactly like one does? Could this take away value from one's life because one is replaceable? I would argue that a robot can never replace a human being. 

    If a robot had to be programmed to be like an individual based off of information found from the Internet, the robot can very well be deceived by false information. That is assuming that the person is even on social media, which many people are not. However, there is often a huge difference between the "social media self" and the "real life self". People behave and say things on social media that they would never do or say in a setting with actual people around them. And even people who are always updating their social media profile and updating their status do not always post their deepest feelings. If the robot is not able to be "programmed" with these feelings, and also apply them in the specific and appropriate moments to which the individual person would apply them then he is not behaving as the person. 

    A robot can never replace a human being. The replacement may serve, at best, as a close replica of the original. However, there is nothing exactly like the original. Softwares need to be updated, the creator may want to take out or add information that, in his or her eyes, improves the original, and like any technology the robot can have malfunctions. I would also assume that if people realize that they are interacting with a robot, they may have feelings that causes them to behave in a different way then if they were interacting with a human. 

   Another interesting idea is, first, the biology. The robot Ash did not bleed when he was cut. This is something that can perhaps be adjusted, although, I do not understand why we would waste blood on a robot. But the crucial factor is age. The robot, unless technology gets really sophisticated and slightly creepy, does not age. Contrary to a human who goes through various stations in life related to age. That being said, depending at what age the person died and the information was downloaded is the age in which the robot will be stuck in. This is in terms of several things such as age and knowlege. For example, a 15 year old contributes a different type of information than does a 40 year old. The robot will always be 15 in appearance and knowledge, while its human companions continue to age and mature. 

   In conclusion, a robot will never be able to be like the original human being. A human being may be able to be imitated closely, but the imitation will never be exactly the same as the original. There are simply things in this world that are limited in stock, which is why we should learn to appreciate them while they are still with us.