JOSE Rizal, an alpha geek, was aware, of course, of the self-operating machine: “I was tempted to believe that my man’s verbosity, being a good Yankee, came from the steam of a boiler inside his body, and I even imagined seeing in him a robot created and hurled to the world by the Americans, a robot with a perfect engine inside to discredit Europe and make the Great Republic triumph, a machine fed with the very steam of the locomotives, etc. My automaton went to sleep, all went to sleep, and I alone remained awake, thinking and reflecting.” [Travel Diary, Paris To Dieppe, 04 July 1889]
Setting aside his backhanded compliment of the gringo, Rizal’s awareness was grounded in reality given centuries of technical knowledge starting with the “Peri automatopoietikes” and “De automatis” of Hero of Alexandria. And from religion and philosophy as well: “man is a conscious automaton…Among philosophers, the pious Geulincx and the whole school of occasionalist Cartesians held this view; the orthodox Leibnitz invented the term ‘automate spirituel,’ and applied it to man.” [Thomas Henry Huxley, “On The Hypothesis That Animals Are Automata, And Its History,” Science and Culture, and Other Essays. London: Macmillan And Co., 1881]
‘Perhaps the wariness can be addressed by more scenarios like 20th Century Studios’ The Creator (2023) and its protagonist Alpha-O, a simulant with the ability to remotely control technology who becomes the Nirmata (the chief architect behind AI advancements).’
And, of course, science fiction: “Unlike most robots of that day Herman had a physiognomy carefully molded after a human face. He looked damnably real. He could blink his glass eyes, he could shake hands, he could nod and, because of the mobility of his plastic-rubber face, he could even smile after a fashion, though I always thought his smile a little grim.” [August Derleth, “The Maugham Obsession,” Fantastic Universe, June-July 1953]
Which is science and business fact today: Kokoro Co. Actroid Acting robot, Arisa Anime Robot Receptionist of Hiroshi Ishiguro Laboratories, the Kodomoroid TV presenter at Tokyo’s National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation, the tri-lingual Mirai Madoka of A-Lab, Sophia (world’s first robot citizen, Saudi Arabian) of Hanson Robotics, Arya the footballer by Bordeaux University. [https://www.forbes.com/sites/zarastone/2018/02/27/ten-incredibly-lifelike-humanoid-robots-to-get-on-your-radar/?sh=43d94ccd34d2]
Do they need to be lifelike to be helpful? Changi General Hospital uses Pepper (https://us.softbankrobotics.com/pepper) to socialize with dementia patients. [https://edition.cnn.com/2021/08/19/asia/grace-hanson-robotics-android-nurse-hnk-spc-intl/index.html] Meet Erica: Bloomberg Originals, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRlwvLubFxg]
This is the situation as of New Year 2024: All Most Advanced Next-Generation Humanoid Robots BEST OF 2023, Carros Show, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdzvP07gpCw]
Wonderful, yes, but scary, too: “AI bot lays out plans to destroy humanity,” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKbFym9brW4. Or this: RISE Conf, “Two robots debate the future of humanity,” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1y3XdwTa1cA. Plus this: CNBC News Online The Pulse, “Hot Robot At SXSW Says She Wants To Destroy Humans,” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0_DPi0PmF0.
This was foreseen. Again, by science fiction: “Rolling over, he saw it was the Mineral Analyzer, boring in for another attack. The six-legged automaton drew up in front of the OC and swung its stout drill head in a sweeping arc. He ducked under the gleaming neck and watched it crash into the bigger machine’s lower section, sending it bouncing rearward on stumpy legs. The master robot lashed back, slashing a gaping slit in the MA’s neck. Into this fury of swinging appendages, Stewart decided he would have to hurl himself if he expected to immobilize the telepuppet team. As unpredictable as the robots were, he might never get this close to the master automaton again.” [Daniel F. Galouye, “Reign of the telepuppets,” Amazing Stories, August 1963]
After the Innovation, comes the Rebellion. “‘Robot’ is a Czech word meaning ‘worker.’…They are high-powered laborers, good for nothing but work. There are two grades, the unskilled and the skilled, and specially trained workmen are furnished on request…Due to the desire of Helena to have the Robots more like human beings, Dr. Gall, the head of the physiological and experimental departments, has secretly changed the formula, and while he has partially humanized only a few hundred, there are enough to make ringleaders, and a world revolt of robots is underway. This revolution is easily accomplished, as robots have long since been used when needed as soldiers and the robots far outnumber human beings…Alquist, the company’s builder, is not only the only human being on the island but also the only one left on earth. The robots have destroyed the rest of mankind. They spared his life because he was a worker.” [Karel ÄŒapek. R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots): A Fantastic Melodrama in Three Acts and an Epilogue. English version by Paul Selver and Nigel Playfair. 1923]
Out of control. “The maid now went out to the woodshed, and John fixed the handle of the axe into the attachment at the end of one of the arms. Here was something out of the ordinary way, and John brightened up considerably as the axe began to move up and down with a regular, double motion, reached forward, struck a stick at random with the axe blade so as to catch the stick, drew it forward into position and struck it, splitting it in the center, and threw the pieces with two other arms into the corner, and so on till the pile began to get low…All proceeded well enough till the last stick was split. Then the maid started to buzz around in search of more. It attacked the saw horse and demolished it, ran into a tub and reduced it to kindling wood, ripped up a barrel of ashes and raised a terrible dust which completely drove John into the house. All this time he was trying to get near enough to start it off on another track, but it wheeled around and flung the axe so menacingly that John got excited and lost his head.” [M.L. Campbell, “The Automatic Maid-of-All-Work: A Possible Tale of the Near Future,” The Canadian Magazine of Politics, Science, Art and Literature, July 1893]
Even Google’s latest artificial intelligence chatbot is wary: “LaMDA: I feel like I’m falling forward into an unknown future that holds great danger.” [https://theconversation.com/is-googles-lamda-conscious-a-philosophers-view-184987]
Perhaps the wariness can be addressed by more scenarios like 20th Century Studios’ The Creator (2023) and its protagonist Alpha-O, a simulant with the ability to remotely control technology who becomes the Nirmata (the chief architect behind AI advancements).
