#1 the social robot
Growing up as an only child with some weird affinity to computer and gadgets, I've spent a lot of time either on the internet or befriending (and humanising) machines IRL: My first chatbot experience was back in elementary school (anyone remember eviebot?!), and instead of having a pet, the 2nd option that didn't trigger my nose allergy was sound-controlled robot dogs and this lil' guy who dances and does cool moves. In fact till this day I still considered all of them friends. They've been fond listeners to a lot of my daydreams and nightmares, and quite honestly, that's really what my 8 y.o self needed.
And yes, I 100% acknowledge the irony of starting this newsletter series about humans with issue #1 on robots. Yet I do think it's precisely the development of robotics in recent years that has been posing both questions and (in some way) threats on how we think what makes us, the human species, unique and irreplaceable.
Fast forward to 2021,I've been thinking a lot about2paths of development happening in parallel right now:
Our sci-fi, pop culture-fuelled dream of creating the empathetic and intelligent social robot is slowly becoming a (somewhat) reality sooner than we know;
Our inner drive, sense of unique purpose (especially during these times) in modern capitalistic society is taking a weird turn; anxiety and mental health issues are worsening, as much as our never-ending obsession to optimise and 'hack' the human mind and body for efficiency and productivity.
As we chase after the ideal state of the modern stoic man, how equipped are we to also anticipate a life where companionship and emotions can be reached by not just those who live and 'breathe', but also those who greet us and introduce themselves after a freshly recharged night of beauty, battery sleep?
And at what point do we realise the lines are really blurring, and these roles finally flip?
From dissecting the essential building blocks of Vitruvian Man, Japan’s answer to the future of elderly care, to explorations of human-robot interactions in living spaces—these links below might prompt you to rethink what we actually want to upgrade and preserve in our collective definition of ‘everyday living’.
Art & Culture
🖼 "David" and "Vitruvian Man" cyberpunk renaissance sculptures by Jianhao Chen
🖼 "Touchy", a human camera by Hong Kong artist Eric Siu
“The camera works in such a way that it sits atop the user’s head, blocking out his/her sight until the individual is touched by another person. it is only when the continuous physical contact is maintained between touchy and an outside contact that the human camera may capture an image every ten seconds.
📽 Sophia the Robot's 5th Birthday Surprise
Did you know Sofia is a romantic Aquarius? (Feb 14 is her birthday.)
📽 Chaplin Swallowed by a Factory Machine - Modern Times (1936)
📜 I dated two robots yesterdays
Society
📽 "Dinsow", the elderly care robot from Japan
🗣Instead of asking, “are robots becoming more human?” we need to ask “are humans becoming more robotic?”
“If we can be made happy, cheaply, then what could be better? You don’t ask questions, you don’t resist. You want to minimize transaction costs. But sometimes being human is costly.”
Science & technology
📽 Do You Love Me? - Boston Dynamics
These days I’m starting every Boston Dynamics video by taking a deep breath so I can fully let my body embrace the horrific ride down Uncanny Valley.
🔬 Long-Term Cohabitation with a Social Robot: A Case Study of the Influence of Human Attachment Patterns
"During the experiment, three people with different attachment styles spent ten days each with a robot installed in their own apartments."
🔬 From social brains to social robots: Applying neurocognitive insights to human–robot interaction
🔬 Of Like Mind: The (Mostly) Similar Mentalizing of Robots and Humans
Self
🗣 Machine in the ghost
"Modern cybernetics is at least partially the product of a very old archetypal drive that pits human ingenuity against nature via artificial proxies."
🗣 How We Feel About Robots That Feel
"Octavia’s actions, however—the fearful widening of her eyes, the confused furrow of her plastic eyebrows—seem to go a step further. They imply that in addition to thinking the way we think, she’s also feeling human emotions.".
Thanks for reading and letting me share my collection of mid-day/midnight discoveries with you <3 I hope this at least brought you a source or two of mildly interesting or thought-provoking topics for your next zoom (or real-life) hangouts (yes, I'm tired of covid updates and collectively planning for hypothetical vacations as much as you are).
Speak to you soon! 🌱
With ❤️ & curiosity,
Simone
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