The Debate Over Robot Rights

Dr. Caroline West, a senior lecturer in philosophy at Sydney University, says we should already be thinking about what will happen when humanoids develop the ability to reason and integrate into society. If humanoids become as intelligent and capable of feeling as humans, should they be given the same rights? The question cuts to the heart of what a “person” is.

“It could happen tomorrow, it could happen in 50 years, it could happen in 100 years,” says Professor Mary-Anne Williams, head of the innovation and research lab at Australia’s University of Technology. “People and animals are just chemical bags, chemical systems, so there’s no technical reason why we couldn’t have robots that truly have AI.”

Professor Williams believes a unique form of robotic emotion could even evolve one day. “You could argue some robots can mimic (emotions) already,” she says. “But because a robot will experience the world differently to us it will be quite an effort for the robot to imagine how we feel about something.”

“One of the things we’ll want robots to do is communicate. But in order to have a conversation you need the capability to build a mental model of the person you’re communicating with. And if you can model other people or other systems’ cognitive abilities then you can deceive.”

Humans generally anticipate how another person might feel about something by thinking about how it would affect them. People who don’t have the ability to empathize can become psychopaths.

“I think there is a danger of producing robots that are psychopathic,” Prof Williams says.

Of course, Isaac Asimov formulated the three laws to try and prevent robots from harming humans, but Professor Williams says this is easier said than done. Especially when there are robots already trained to kill on the battlefield in Iraq.

“You need a lot of cognitive capability to determine harm if you’re in a different kind of body. What will we do when we have to deal with entities … who have perceptions beyond our own and can reason as well as we can, or potentially better?”

Dr. Caroline West says, “If something is a person then it has serious rights, and what it takes to be a person is to be self-conscious and able to reason. If silicon-based creatures get to have those abilities then they would have the same moral standing as persons. Just as we think it’s not okay to enslave persons, so it would be wrong to enslave these robots if they really were self-conscious.”

Via TechNewsWorld.

Asimo Becomes Intelligent and Learns to Cooperate

Though everyone has been awestruck and terrified by Asimo’s short-legged run for years, Honda has focused on intelligence for Asimo since everyone figured out he was run by remote control.

After unveiling the all-new Asimo in 2005, today it was announced that Honda has developed a new intelligence technology for Asimo that enhances his smooth moves. He now has the ability to predict the movement of oncoming people, and can choose between stepping back and yielding the right-of-way– or continuing to walk. The newly improved Asimo can also carry a tray or push a cart, and automatically charges his own battery when his power levels are low.

But cooperation is key for the new Asimo– multiple Asimos can now share tasks and work together while the others are charging or otherwise engaged. Honda will begin test operations of two ASIMOs equipped with these newly developed technologies December 12 at Honda’s Aoyama headquarters. This brings Honda one step closer to creating a humanoid robot that can be put to practical use in a real world environment requiring coexistence with people.

Honda seems to realize that while Toyota’s current robots are far more specialized and advanced, Asimo’s independent intelligence and fame far outweighs them– and Asimo can still get plenty of press for learning to plug himself in after a long day.

Aibo is Coming Back To Life and Walking Onto Your PSP & PS3

Kotaku is spreading a rumor that started in Stuff Magazine about the possibility of an upcoming Aibo, working with the Playstation Portable and Playstation 3.

Apparently Sony’s Playstation division is attempting to “bolster the PS3’s arsenal” by resuscitating the robotic dog as Aibo PS and giving him a whole new bag of tricks.

The Aibo PS will appear with its own avatar within Home and react in the real world as he does in the PS3’s upcoming interactive environment, according to the article. The rumor article goes on to say that you will be able to download new personalities for the dog from the Playstation Network– but the coolest part is that the dog will be fully controllable using a PSP via WiFi! And the dog’s head camera will send a real world video feed to the PSP’s screen!

Stuff magazine rates this rumor as having a 53 percent probability, so Sony is probably testing the waters by seeing how people respond to the idea of an Aibo redux. As a proud owner of I-Cybie and Nintendogs, I can say that Aibo PS would be enough to finally make me buy a PS3.

Movie Remake of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis in the Works

Daily Variety reports that producer Thomas Schuehly has acquired the remake rights to Fritz Lang’s silent classic Metropolis. Scuehly, who produced Oliver Stone’s epic flop Alexander, is teaming with Terminator producer Mario Kassar on the update, and they’re negotiating with top directors now.

At the time of its release in 1927, Metropolis was one of the most expensive films of its time. The main plot of the original revolved around the struggle between the working class that toils underground and the elite who live above them in luxury, but Metropolis is best remembered for its influential art-deco style and for Maria the iconic fem-bot heroine.

And yes, Hollywood is officially out of ideas. With the Writer’s Strike dragging on and all the holiday movies playing non-stop on tv the next couple weeks, we can only assume that a live-action version of Frosty the Snowman is next.

Thanks to Comingsoon.net

Toyota Wants Robots in Your Home By 2010

Toyota is targeting the early 2010s for the development of a viable human-assistance robot, and unveiled its latest two robot creations on Thursday– and one of them plays violin.

The Violin-Playing Robot played “Pomp and Circumstance” at Toyota’s press conference in Tokyo Thursday. AP News said of the performance, “Compared to a virtuoso, its rendition was a trifle stilted and, well, robotic.” But the demonstration wasn’t meant to display mastery of music, it was a display of the robot’s ability to master fine movements with its joints and fingers–and that The Violin-Playing Robot was skilled enough to produce a tremolo effect.

The Mobiro is a motorized wheel chair that can cope with uneven surfaces and turn on the spot. The rider controls Mobiro through controls in the armrest while sitting in the chair, but Mobiro can also be summoned from afar by remote control, and avoid objects on the way to finding its owner. Mobiro has a 20-kilometer range. Field tests will begin in the second half of 2008.

Toyota also showed off Robina, a robot that was unveiled earlier this year. Robina is designed for face-to-face communication with humans, and served as a guide at the Toyota Kaikan Exhibition Hall in Toyota City in August. Robina navigates a through obstacles automatically, and is capable of signing autographs for her adoring fans.

While robot tricks like playing the violin and signing autographs are cute for now, Toyota’s end goal is for robots like Robina to be used in hospitals and at home. Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe said robotics will be a core business for the company in coming years, and is predicting a high demand for assistance from Japan’s rapidly aging society. Toyota will test out its robots at hospitals, Toyota-related facilities and other places starting next year.

The company hopes to put what it calls “partner robots” to real use by 2010.

See more pics and video at Akihabara News.

Via PC World and AP News. Hi-Res photos from Akihabara News..

“Hybrid” Computers Will Meld With Living Brains in Next Decade

A scientist who successfully connected a moth’s brain to a robot predicts that in 10 to 15 years we’ll be using “hybrid” computers running a combination of technology and living organic tissue.

Charles Higgins, an associate professor at the University of Arizona, has built a robot that is guided by the brain and eyes of a moth. Higgins said that he basically straps a hawk moth to the robot and then puts electrodes in neurons that deal with sight in the moth’s brain. Then the robot responds to what the moth is seeing — when something approaches the moth, the robot moves out of the way.

“If you have a living system, it has sensory systems that are far beyond what we can build,” Higgins explained. “It’s doable, but we’re having to push the limits of current technology to do it.”

But Higgins claims that in future decades, most computers will have some kind of living component to them.

“There are things biology can do so much better,” Higgins said. “Think of a computer that can be both living and nonliving. We’d be growing tissue that has no more intelligence than a liver or a heart. I don’t see ethical issues here.”

He does see an ethical line, though. “Our goal is not to hook up primate brains to a robot. There’s the possibility, when you start to tap into brains, for all sorts of evil applications. There are certainly all these ethical issues when you start talking about human and primate brains.”

Higgins said he expects that these future hybrid systems will take the form of a visual sensor that sits on the front of an automobile and keeps the vehicle from rear-ending another car. He also envisions them being embedded in military robots that can go into a hot zone, see the enemy and actually sniff out land mines. And hybrid systems could be used to make people with spinal cord injuries mobile again, or be developed for prosthetic applications.

“There are lots of people working on connecting functional brains to people who have nonworking limbs. You connect to the brain and send the information to a human limb or robotic limb. It’s an area that is closely related to what we’re doing.”

From Computer World.

Can Christian Bale bring Terminator Salvation?

I’ve been hearing rumors for awhile, but it was finally confirmed in the Hollywood Reporter today that Christian Bale will take on the role of John Connor in Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins.

Earlier rumors had Vin Diesel attached to the project, while others predicted that T3 star Nick Stahl would return as John Connor, or even T2’s Edward Furlong.

Instead we get a fresh start with Christian Bale. He’s probably the best actor of our generation, and already reinvented Batman– who knows what he can do with John Connor? The only thing he needs now is a director that can bring an exciting new vision to the franchise– someone on par with Batman director Christopher Nolan.

Unfortunately, the fate of the future still seems to be McG‘s hands. The director of Charlie’s Angels and We Are Marshall is still in negotiations to helm T4.