Thought the course, we have read and discussed several literatures about how people get attached to objects; mainly about how people get attached to machines and computers and what does this lead to now? And what it will lead to in the future? I have read part of a book called ‘second self’ that basically states that most of humans now are attached to different types of animate or inanimate objects in a severe way, they are connected strongly to their phones and pets and this improvise that people have the potential of being one day attached to robots in several, different ways. Moreover, the author stated that humans will live in a phase of their life called the liminal paradigm where they will be uncertain about their morals, traditions and emotions and this will eventually lead to them changing and accepting the fact that they could love an inanimate or animate object more than humans. This is a thought that not only hard for a person to think of, but it is also hard to believe. This course enlightened me about several things that i have never thought about and allowed me to ponder over them; and these things can really affect the future of humanity.

One of the main things that make humans not comfortable while dealing with robots, or are not accepting that there is a possibility that one day humans might have a relationship with a robots is that robots have a mechanical inner structure. Robots are unlike humans they do not have blood, veins, muscles and so on, as we all know. Thus, this makes humans uncomfortable when they are dealing with them, so robots’ manufacturing  companies have managed to develop a robot, called the Anthropometric robot that has an inner structure similar to humans. They managed to make its inner structure containing muscle, joints and tendons so it could act and interact like humans, and for humans to be more comfortable while dealing with it. Moreover, the added the facial recognition software to the robot to be able to act and interact exactly like humans.

Here is a picture of an anthropometric robot.

One of the classes that kept my mind pondering over even after the class ended, is how the Japanese think of the world and its animate and inanimate objects. In other words, how they order the animate and inanimate objects in term of importance; is god the most important thing, and humans are right after him? As most of us consider, or are animals and plants more important than humans and even than god? But how if god is the one who created us and them in the very first place? This discussion kept me thinking for so long as most of humans at least who live in the Middle East think in a vertical way where they have an order in their minds about who is superior and what are the things that comes after and above humans in this order, and this is the way that i have been thinking my whole life. However, after discussing how the Japanese think in a horizontal way where every animate or inanimate object are equal, I have started changing my way of thinking a little bit. Humans are equal to machines, as machines are important and objects are important; because, nowadays humans can not live without desks, chairs, computers and so on. Thus, humans are equal to machines, also they are equal to animals and plants, as humans cannot survive without animals and plants. Therefore, we should think in a horizontal way where everything is equal, or in specific where humans are equal to machines. Consequently, we should not be surprised when Japan robots were granted the Japanese citizenship and not refugees, as they work more efficiently.

The first time we discussed sex robots in class without viewing pictures and videos of them. I never thought that one day there will be an object that looks and acts in an extremely similar way to humans, to an extent that it could replace humans. After viewing the in class videos and listening to conversations between humans and robots I was amazed, but a little bit terrified also. About how they look exactly like humans, and how the artificial intelligence feature made them even act like us and respond to our answers in an appropriate way. The sex robots have been our topic for several classes, and really after realizing that Sophia an AI robot who was the first to be granted citizenship in Saudi Arabia; I was more amazed by how now robots can really replace humans. Moreover, when in class we discussed how in Japan refugees are not allowed to have a japanese citizenship while robots can; this does not only make me realize that robots will one day be like us, but they could also one day have the upper hand among humans.

Here is a picture of Sophia the social robot.

In this chapter, Mary Manjikian introduced by how drones were utilized in the battlefield in human surveillance operations, and how that drones provided an upper hand by going into places that are too risky for humans and collecting data about destined locations. She proceeds by giving an overview of how autonomous technology can the change the construct of warfare, and how it can have an impact on basic gender constructs.

              Manjikian argues that the essence of the battlefield will be altered with the introduction of autonomous technology. Firstly, it will eliminate the burden of ‘dirty work’ in the battleground, since the battlefield will be mainly consisting of robots, which she then concludes makes warfare irrelevant. The basic inception of war is two armies fighting for territory by eliminating one another, with the introduction of autonomous technology Manjikian argues that the elimination of robots would be irrelevant and does not translate into territory gained during war.

              Autonomous technology has an impact on basic gender constructs, since the traditional overview of both males and females she describes as “protector/protected” respectively. With the development of super soldiers, this will somehow introduce a third gender, eliminating the “protector/protected” view. Thus, she concludes that this would undermine the masculinity of males and would reinforce hegemonic masculinity rather than eliminating it.

Last class, when we talked about our relationships with our technological devices mainly mobile phones. This enlightened me about several things, it gave me the opportunity to think how my life would look like if I do not have a mobile phone, or in other words how mobile phones affected people’s lives severely in many different ways; by listening to each of my colleagues talking about their relationship with their mobile phones. Nearly everyone of us agreed that they can not live without their mobile phones and it is not a bandage, it a necessity that without it we can not live. This is also something that I was not aware of, as I have never though that a device could be a necessity in my life; but, after listening how my colleagues describe how a whole day was spent without using their phones, and how they felt so lost. This made me aware of how i can not live with a mobile phone too nowadays. However, it would be a lot better if I could learn how to manage my daily life without using it, or even learn how not to be fully dependent on just a device.

The movie for me was not interesting at all, and a bit vague; i would have never watched such movie except if it was an assignment or in class like this time. The first thought that came to my mind after watching the movie is why do we create robots or machines in the very first place? And i believed that people create machines for many reasons, but the most clear reason is to fulfill a need like in the movie when hannah created the golem for protection and later on felt so attached to it as her son died. Thus, we create machines mainly to fulfill a need. In the movie the golem was dangerous and kept killing people before hannah realized it should be killed. It reminded me of the prometheus story were the golem was created and kept getting bigger until his man commanded him to kneel to write on his head death, and after he died he just changed to mud and fell on his master and killed him. So, both the movie and this story made it clear how our own creations (human creations in general) could harm us, others and the society as a whole.

According to the readings that i have read and analysed from the beginning of this semester, and all the discussions and conclusions that we have come up with as a class. In my opinion, automata, robots or machines have been present throughout the different ages starting from 200 B.C till the 18th century. The only thing that differs is how was it used and for what purpose. I have realized that as long as we come closer to the 21st century, people start using machines or automata for more important purposes like being more productive; unlike, in older centuries where they have been used for sex, entertainment and to express power.