The author of this reading explores the processes and mechanisms that give humanoid robots additional features which result in the development of a relationship between humans and “inanimate” subjects. The anthropological fieldwork the author discusses takes place in Japan, where the world-wide “Robo-One” competition takes place. This is a competition where engineers dedicate a lot of their time, energy, and research to building human forms and stimulating human movement robotically. Roboticists have managed to create robots that exhibit several types of human movement, such as walking, jumping, and even doing karate. However, the new surprising part is that these robot creators are trying to develop a relationship between humans and robots through a metaphorical “heart”, also known as the “kokoro”, hence explaining the article’s title. This “heart to heart” relationship is established through tinkering, which is when the relationship between the human and the technological object becomes intimate through repeated touch. By constantly interacting with the machine, and experimenting with it for trial and error, its creator develops a sense of attachment that is enacted through a complex web of bodily and emotional rituals. The presence of a “heart” in the robot greatly contrasts the purpose of the artificial intelligence created by the United States since the 1970’s. Artificial intelligence only equated the mind with intelligence, whereas the heart equated it with emotional exchange. Consequently, this caused robots to replace the presence of humans in several environments, such as in schools, households, and healthcare facilities. Due to the loss of the human to human contact within the Japanese community, people in Japan are reasserting their own type of humanity through robots. Personally, I do not blame the Japanese for the way they handled the situation, as the presence of robots is what allowed them to resist the effects of Japan’s economic collapse. Nonetheless, this makes me wonder how Japan’s future will be like especially when the robotics’ business is very much respected and appreciated. In other words, to what extent will the Japanese be satisfied with the presence of these robots over real-life humans?

The use of autonomous technology, such as drones and robots, has been recently implemented in countries like the United States, with the intention of altering the conduct of war-fighting and our understanding of gendered activity. Historically, wars and the brave soldiers who sacrifice their lives on the battle field, were always considered to be a symbol of strength, bravery, and nationalism. Nonetheless, the author discusses how battles and soldiers will be perceived when warfare becomes automated. For instance, what would be the case when drones are responsible for removing bodies from the battle fields instead of real humans? How would this affect our perception of war? Naturally, when automated technology becomes dominant, battles will be taken more lightly and perceived as less heroic, as the male figure no longer protects the females and the weak. Instead, it is the robot that protects both males and females, resulting in the dehumanization of the battle field. Consequently, the weapon system becomes unmanned, as do the soldiers themselves, since the drone operators are equated with risk avoidance and cowardliness. Later on in the text, the author explains how military robots could have an effect on common gender conceptions, as they could either accentuate and strengthen the traditional conceptions by creating a hypermasculine super solider, or they could undermine distinctions between the sexes by creating a new set of genders. What I mean by the “hypermasculine” super soldier is one with implants to enhance their natural capabilities in the field, such as being implanted with GPS coordinates for tracking. As well, these supersoldiers include special features, such an exoskeleton on the outside of their bodies, which provides them with strength and mobility in the battle; a typical masculine feature. Therefore, the aforementioned proves how the construction of these robots reinforces masculinity, rather than reducing the common gender misconceptions. In fact, the author argues that the increased use of technology will enlarge the gap between men and women, as technology is created to serve men and demean women. For instance, the implants that are inserted into men’s bodies to control their movements are not very convenient for women, as they raise issues towards historical conflicts women have encountered, such as slavery. In addition, US military planners have inscribed all technology as masculine, since it is seen as providing decision-makers with knowledge; a typical male characteristic. As a female, I don’t feel like the availability of additional war-fighting technology is likely to open up more opportunities for women in war, as the mindsets that design these technologies create them in a way which make them more accomodative to males.

In class, we were assigned the task of writing a paragraph about how dependent we were on a technological object. Naturally, just like anyone else would, I chose my phone. According to the my Iphone’s screen time update, I spend an average of 7 hours daily on my phone. Whenever I see this notification, I find myself wondering, “How is that I spend 7 hours of my day looking at a screen?” However, once I began analysing my actions, I found that my life does truly revolve around my phone, as for me it became a priority rather than a luxury. In the morning, it is not my Mom or Dad that wakes me up, but it is my phone. After 5 minutes of scrolling through social media, I use my phone for background music as I am getting ready, such as when I am dressing up or brushing my teeth. As soon as I get ready to go to university, my phone tells me which path to take and the amount of time I’ll need; this becomes crucial in times of exams or conferences. Once I arrive to university, my phone becomes more essential than ever, as it keeps my company whenever I am not in the mood for real-life humans. At this particular mood, my phone entertains me through the use of various apps, or by enabling me to contact my abroad friends. Therefore, it is no question that my phone must always be on me, or else I’ll panic about losing it, which is something that I certainly cannot handle. Due to how reliant I am on my phone, I sometimes favour it or trust what its telling me over other people’s words, as I find it much more beneficial. For instance, my phone can answer as many questions as I want about any topic, guide me to locations, as well as it can tell me the type of clothing to have on for the day by checking the weather. As well, my phone happens to know me better than most people do, as it contains almost all information about my personal life, such as my: contacts, pictures, preferences, and dislikes. Therefore, by reflecting on the type of relationship that exists between my phone and I, I can wholeheartedly state that it has become a replacement for real-life humans. My phone wakes me up, provides me with information, knows my likes and dislikes, as well as it spends time with me when I am alone, so what stops it from taking on the role of a human? Does that mean that as humans, we no longer have the tendency to survive without the possession of a phone?

I found this chapter to be very mind-opening, as I never classified people with implanted pacemakers or cardioverter-defibrillators as “cyborgs” or “hybrids”. Nonetheless, perhaps my perception of them as “regular” humans relates to my lack of knowledge about the function of these devices, and the effects they have on their “bearers”.  The aforementioned introduces the newly developed concept of ontology, which states that bodies and technology are co-producing one another.  Therefore, once one becomes a cyborg, there is no return to their old body state. This is further clarified by Pollock, who stated that, “There is no self that is independent of the device; the patients and defibrillators are one”.  However, to properly classify patients with these devices, one must analyse their embodied sensory experience. Once inserted inside the body, the patient cannot independently control the function of the device, as the electric pulses and shocks take over the rhythm of the heart. The only person capable of changing the machine’s current is the technician through the use of a programmed computer. This in turn affects the way the patient carries on with their lives, as many of them complained about how the ICD or pacemaker does not necessarily correspond to the way they live, hence demonstrating how these people are less able to get a hold of their bodies. For instance, some patients expressed how the inappropriate adjustment of the pacemaker leads to feelings of tiredness, especially during physical activity. As well, other patient expressed how they needed to pay close attention to the beeping sound made by the machine as an indication of its malfunction. The aforementioned illustrates how the hybrid needs to become more intimate with their hybrid materiality to carry out a successful life. The patient needs to be aware that it is not only their heart that is dependent on the machine, but it is their life itself.  Consequently, the bearers of these machines grasp that they are no longer in total control of their body, but the machine is, hence the establishment of the resemblance between cyborgs. This idea seems fascinating to me, as the use of technology has always been defined and finite for human beings. Nonetheless, this is not currently the case, as internal technological devices are what decide how the body will be utilised.

I found the story’s plot to be slightly confusing, as I did not understand why the child suddenly appeared to rescue the main character, who is supposed to be his mother, from the evil figures that were chasing her. However, I was able to instantly make a connection between the way he was brought to life, and the chapter discussed in class about Prometheus. In the movie, the child was revived from the Earth, which was evidently shown by the mud covering his entire body. As well, when his “mother” made the decision to let him go, his entire being gradually transformed to dust, enabling him to return to where he initially came from. The aforementioned is very similar to the Greek mythology, where it was assumed that humans were essentially clay figures who were provided souls using the wind. As well, the way the child killed everyone in the village brought my attention to another intriguing idea. Whether we like it or not, we resemble automata to a certain extent. For instance, we are controlled by systems that would not function without their vital components, which in this case are the organs. Therefore, if one of these components completely shuts down, the entire system will deteriorate, if not shut down as well. In the movie, when people’s hearts were pulled out of their chest, they immediately died, as the body’s pumping machine was removed. Similarly, when a robot has technical errors, it malfunctions until the error is repaired, hence proving the resemblance in the mechanism between humans and automata. Finally, while watching the movie, I remember thinking to myself that the little boy is not entirely evil. Evidently, this is the image he is showed everyone, considering that he went around killing all villagers, including the witch. However, I perceive this to be an act of self-defence, as he was attacked by everyone around. Also, when he was controlled by his “mother”, she prevented him from killing the Christian man, who was simply ordered to leave their land along with their daughter. To conclude, I found the movie to be entertaining, as I subconsciously analysed many of its ideas, but not as scary as I thought it would be.

As I was reading this chapter, I found Paracelsus’s way of thinking extremely strange. This probably relates to the fact that I am a very science oriented person, and the way he explained the occurrence of life seemed very illogical to me. How could life come from Art? Is there really such thing as Palingenesis? Nonetheless, now that I have come to think about it, maybe Paracelsus’s pursue in finding a way to life without fertilisation is due to his lack of interest in females, which could be related to his inter-sexuality. In other words, maybe he did not feel a sense of attraction towards females as he was slightly feminine himself. Consequently, he started thinking of the application of alchemy, and how the male sperm can give the spark of life alone, without an egg. In my opinion, including women in the process of making life was highly despised in the 17th century due to their menstrual blood, and what it symbolises. Menstrual blood was a sign of impurity, as it represents the death of what could have been alive; an ovum that could have been fertilised, but was not. Therefore, Paracelsus, and many other scholars like him, starting incubating the sperm and putting it in structures such as the womb of a horse (female body replacement), and essentially creating artificial life in the form of homunculus. Paracelsus’s theory might seem crazy and unrealistic to many. However, what those people fail to understand, me being previously one of them, is that life in the 21st generally can be generated with 1 sex only, such as the case for homosexual couples, yet I don’t see anyone doubting the ethics or principle behind the procedure, especially since it is very similar to Promotheus’s artificial life.

I remember this text very well despite reading it almost 2 weeks ago, as it was the first reading of this class. It was this text that gave me an idea of the course’s content, a topic that I never studied before. Nonetheless, I found myself to be greatly interested by what I was reading and what was discussed in class, as there were several ideas that never crossed my mind. For instance, I never thought about why artificial life could be created, or the ancient myths that describe the formation of the body and soul. Through this chapter, I discovered that the ancient Greeks believed Prometheus to be the creator of the human race, as he built the human body using clay and dust. To give the clay figures life, Athena would blow into them and make use of the wind to create their soul. The creation process of the human body in the Greek mythology brought my attention to the presence of a role reversal; the woman is supposed to be the one building the body, as she normally does inside the womb, not the man. Does the myth exist in this particular way due to the men’s inability of creating life organically? Furthermore, this chapter also gave several examples of nude statues that were used for sex, by both men and women. For example, Laodamia, a Greek whose husband died in a Trojan war, created a gold statue of her husband to which she showed affection to compensate for his loss. Unfortunately, Laodamia ended up killing herself when the statue was destroyed, and therefore demonstrating the type of relationship that she established with a statue. This notified me of the possibility of having current cyber-sexbot technologies derived from the idea of using statues for sexual pleasure. Also, when Prometheus introduced the idea of building human being structures from the inside out, giving them bones and a skeleton, these newly developed automata started mimicking human actions, such as doing labour and providing entertainment. As technology advanced and improved, these soulless machines become closer and closer to humans, in terms of their appearance and actions. Using this train of thought, does that make humans the automata of the work of God?

I believe that automata were created in the past with the intention of deceiving, tricking, and establishing power. Most of the technologically advanced structures mentioned in the chapter were used to burn, kill, and torture individuals. For instance, the bull supposedly invented by Perilaus, was shown to the king with the intention of burning his enemies inside of it. Also, when the idea of wings started appearing, the Ancient Greeks experimented with these flying devices without paying attention to any safety. In fact, they made people jump off a cliff in the Leucadia island for their entertainment, knowing that they would die. All these aforementioned examples prove that whoever had access to newly introduced devices, made use of it in a way that manifested power and malevolence, just like the way advanced technology is utilised nowadays. For example, countries strive to gain access to the newest technology that would allow them to be equipped with as many weapons as possible, which are put into use against anyone who dares to harm the homeland, and consequently allowing the country to gain power and control. Despite the multiple stories that describe the presence of several automata, such as the bronze bull and the Menmon statue, I believe that these inventions were considered to be science fiction at the time, due to how futuristic they seemed to be. Consequently, they served as a model as well as inspired many of the inventions that we use nowadays, such as air-planes.