Walter Benjamin thinks that technology impacts art in a bad way. I don't believe that to be true because movies like Big Hero 6 and Wall-E show robots as protagonists with great characters. They are merely emotionless machines used to do every bidding by humans like the ones you could see in factories everywhere in the world. Animation technology has shown that robotic characters can have souls and characters where no other real movies have done so.
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| Wall-E, a robot with character |
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| Robotic Military Dog from Boston Dynamics |
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| Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla |
While industrialization was viewed as a good thing by many, nowadays, those views are virtually gone. Many people realize how robotic technologies could potentially be a threat in the future and how industrialization plays a huge role in that. Thanks to movies like the Terminator and the Matrix, our perspectives on them have changed and humanity will always be cautious with big names like Elon Musk and Bill Gates.
Sources
"Bill Gates on Dangers of Artificial Intelligence: ‘I Don’t Understand Why Some People Are Not Concerned’." Washington Post. The Washington Post. Web. 19 Apr. 2015. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2015/01/28/bill-gates-on-dangers-of-artificial-intelligence-dont-understand-why-some-people-are-not-concerned/>.
Lewis, Tanya. "Screwing Up Artificial Intelligence Could Be Disastrous, Experts Say."LiveScience. TechMedia Network, 13 Apr. 2015. Web. 19 Apr. 2015. <http://www.livescience.com/50467-artificial-intelligence-stakes.html>.
Benjamin, Walter, and J. A. Underwood. The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. London: Penguin, 2008. Print.
"Why Elon Musk Is Scared of Artificial Intelligence - and Terminators." Washington Post. The Washington Post. Web. 19 Apr. 2015. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/11/18/why-elon-musk-is-scared-of-killer-robots/>.
"Smashwords – Depersonalization and Derealization: Responses to Industrialization in The Matrix and Terminator Series - A Book by Johnny Cross - Page 1." Smashwords – Depersonalization and Derealization: Responses to Industrialization in The Matrix and Terminator Series - A Book by Johnny Cross - Page 1. Web. 19 Apr. 2015. <https://www.smashwords.com/extreader/read/50354/1/depersonalization-and-derealization-responses-to-industrialization-in-the-matrix-and-terminator-series>.
Hi Harrison,
ReplyDeleteI love the way to wrote about how technology has been great for art juxtaposed to how people are more and more cautious of the potential for technology and artificial intelligence to take over humanity. It is quite interesting to me how people are always amazed by new artistic technology in film. For example, the very first Pixar film Toy Story. That was the first time many people were introduced to the new animation style, and as time has shown they were hooked. There have been many more aspects added to the world of film, specifically animation, and most of the time popular culture loves the new improvements.
However, when technology is moving science forward, specifically in robotics, many people have skepticism that one day it will “take over,” like you mentioned in The Terminator and The Matrix. But do you think some are taking fictional stories, made to entertain and make money, too seriously? I feel that when robotic toys became popular people we fascinated by them and drawn to them because of the novelty.
We are still experiencing this with new cell phones, computers, and cars that are coming to the market all the time. Several years ago Lexus came out with the first car that could parallel park for the driver, and now Google is working on a self-driving car. I think technology of this magnitude will change transportation and the daily commute as we know it for the better because these new cars are very safe, so we should see a decrease in accidents. This could lead to fewer injuries, lower car insurance prices, and faster commutes. Just because machines can be powerful and advanced does not mean that we should be afraid of them because there is so much exciting technology that is being developed to help people in daily life and, more importantly, assist in making life safer for the masses.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI think you have a very interesting perspective on relating robots to humans. When you say that they "can have souls", this gives way to the thinking that robots should be treated with the same respect and feelings as people. With robots taking over jobs as industrialization continues, these robots cannot be expected to be humanlike in emotion, or this would defeat one of the major purposes of using machines instead of people for production (other than speed). I think its a great idea that you put in from Elon Musk and I am interested to see how this concept of limited intelligence plays out in the future. Great work!