During this TED talk by Paul Josephson – a history professor and self-proclaimed Neo-luddite – he describes three large-scale technologies he believes should be “put out of work” for the benefit of humankind as well as the environment. While i found the topics he chose to address to be somewhat conventional and generally impractical; he presented an interesting notion of what he believes to be at the center of a Neo-luddite mentality. This is that he doesn’t shun technology as a whole and he isn’t even against it taking over many jobs; his conviction is that humans ought to…

“embrace modern technologies that are inherently more democratic that are generally more small-scale that have reversible consequences if there are negative ones and that are likely to encourage more democratic behaviors and institutions; with fewer decisions imposed on us by faceless bureaucrats”

This is to say that he believes that technology isn’t inherently bad but the issues start to arise when it is placed in a context of globalization and mass marketing, and is run by oligopolistic corporations or through governmental intervention and the “police state”. This mentality can be applied to many different scenarios like the clothing industry and implies that the disastrous consequences of fast-fashion wouldn’t have existed if the industry didn’t grow beyond small-scale localized markets and into a massive integrated one. Looking back at the documentary we watched, one could argue that in the mills, the real problems of machines having to keep up with demand and humans having to keep up with machines could’ve been avoided if each mill owner was contented with simply servicing their local communities instead of having to cater for an entire country as well as the growing export market. And since we established during our discussion, that the need for optimal efficiency and maximum production wasn’t a simple supply/demand issue but rather an industrialist’s greed and need for profit; it follows that – through the Neo-luddite’s lens – when useful technologies are abused by people and entities with a disproportionate amount of power and with the goal of profiting at the expense of the average citizen, these technologies become dangerous.

Rick and Morty is an American science fiction sitcom animation, which revolves around a sociopathic scientist, Rick, and his grandson, Morty, who take adventures around the universe. The series tackles various real-world issues today.

In the episode Raising Gazorpazorp, Morty convinces Rick to buy him a sex robot whilst they are on an adventure.

Morty’s free time seems to be consumed with the sex robot and he even gives her a name, which unsettles his parents. This is how most humans would react to having a sex robot, especially as an adolescent going through puberty. He then reveals a metal ball which gives birth to an infant. Post inspecting the robot, Rick confirms that the infant actually contains half of Morty’s DNA. Rick later dissects the robot to discover that it is from the planet Gazorpazorp, where sex robots are the main tool for reproduction and females are the superior gender, since men had no use besides assisting with the reproduction.

This episode was likely used as a warning to mankind, as the massive rise of female sex robots might eventually lead to the ultimate reliance on sex robots for reproduction, losing the purpose and essence of intercourse. 

While discussing Jessica Riskin’s journal entry: The Defecating Duck, or, the Ambiguous Origins of Artificial Life, many different discussions arose regarding the human/machine interaction and how it evolved over time. One discussion topic I personally found extremely interesting and engaging was the topic of labelling something as unintelligent or intelligent.

In the context of the text, most notably the aspect of redefining which tasks are truly intelligent based on what a machine may complete, it may be claimed that unintelligent labour is a labour process in which no or few adaptations are required and a set series of orders may be followed. “But this recent redefinition of intelligence, to exclude the ability to play chess as a defining feature, and the long history of such revisions before it seem to me rather to demonstrate the historical contingency of any definition of intelligence and the complexity of the forces that interact to shape such definitions. Not only has our understanding of what constitutes intelligence changed according to what we have been able to make machines do but, simultaneously, our understanding of what machines can do has altered according to what we have taken intelligence to be.” As shown in the previous quote, it may be further argued that there is no current definition of intelligence that is universally agreed upon. However, our definition shifts with the evolution of machinery, as we deem intelligence as a human (or animal) characteristic which cannot be imitated by a machine. In which case, current unintelligent labour could be replaced by machines as it may be done more efficiently, for cheaper. Considering job losses, it may be deemed that current jobs that can be replaced by machines, should be replaced by machines, as tasks that are not deemed as “unintelligent” should be allocated to humans

The debate that arose in class mainly revolved around finding human characteristics that define our intelligence, and others claiming that a machine is capable of doing the same thing. At the end of the day, I personally believe that machines, most notably modern artificial intelligence, is not different from human intelligence. Machines are made with an empty file and create codes through observations. However, humans are born with “pure hearts,” a soft-term for a clean slate, and build their personalities by learning from what they experience. As time stretches, the border between machine and human grows ever-so thin.

During the last semester in my RHET class, we were analysing Japanese cinema and we came across this short film, Automation, which shows the effect of artificial intelligence on human life and its limitations.

Plot Summary

Automation stars Hiro, an introverted worker, who is usually companionless. Due to his desperation for companionship, Hiro purchases a female robot maid.The robot was not given a name, but was referred to as CRM 02 (Comfort Robot). The robot cleans his home, makes his bed, prepared his clothes, knows a variety of recipes from around the world, etc. The same sequence of events happened everyday. There’s nothing more a busy worker would desire; thus, he appreciated the robot and started to fall in love. Hiro then goes out and buys her a bouquet of flowers. To his surprise, the CRM 02 failed to show any sign of emotions. As he sat next to her one evening, he laid her on the couch as kissed her; but again, the robot gave no response. Disappointedly, Hiro turned his back and walked out. The next morning, he wrapped CRM 02 in its package. On his way to work, he met a woman, bought her flowers, and experienced her appreciation.

(Find a couple of stills from the film attached below)

Analysis

Although the robot might have been capable to enhance some fun in his existence and make his life smoother by doing his chores, it seemed to isolate him even further. This is just a microcosm of what we experience in the world today. There is no doubt that technology does have its benefits, but, it should not replace human interaction. Technology will never have the ability to replace warmth and care humans have. It is simply a mere creation.

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As we all know, we’re living in an age full of innovation where people are breaking boundaries with technology. In this short 10 minute video, we can see how we’re revolutionizing rehabilitation for people with disabilities through the use of implanted technology which allows them to communicate with bionic parts using their own thoughts. The video documents the first ever Bio Olympics named the “Cybathlon”, people with disabilities compete against each other using different bionic parts. Once we perfect the technology behind allowing us to communicate with computers (bionic part), people with disabilities will slowly become superhumans, its mind blowing.

The movie, I, Robot,(2004) staring Will Smith, is a perfect representation of how humans put their entire trust in robots just to be fooled. It is the year 2035, and robots serve the humanity, but are protected by the Three Laws of Robotics, which are:

1. A robot may not harm a human being.
2. A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings, except when such orders conflict with the first law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence, except if this conflicts with the first and second law.

However, when the co-founder of US Robotics, Lanning, is found dead, due to being pushed through the window, suspicions arise that a robot pushed him. Del Spooner (Will Smith), a detective, investigates more into to the case, only to find out that one of the robots, Sonny, did indeed kill Lanning, but the robots was ordered by his master to do so. During Spooner’s investigation he has been attacked by robots multiple times, since most of them have turned against humanity, neglecting the Three Laws of Robotics. The movie shows how robots turn from one day being our servants and companions and the other attacking everyone. I have linked below the trailer for the movie!

I was scrolling through instagram and came across this photo (on the right) of a scientist “fixing”(as written in the caption) Kanye West. This is clearly photoshopped, however, it may be a prediction of the near future. Humans may have the advanced technology to be able to “fix” people’s brains and wire them as they wish. Also, this is very similar to robot-making and trying to humanize them, which is related to Sophia the robot’s creator, who was able to program Sophia in a way that is approaching how humans came out to be, with emotions and expressions. Here’s a link to the account, if you’re interested to see more photos by beeple_crap. https://www.instagram.com/beeple_crap/

Netflix’s Black Mirror is a TV series about different scenarios concerning humans’ everyday lives, in terms of the evolution of technology. Each episode is different than the other, where each episode tackles a different issue. I have recently watched the episode Nosedive, where the protagonist, Lacie(as shown on the left), lives in a society where social status depends on how others rate you on your phone and rate the images you post on an app(shown on the left) similar to Instagram and Facebook. Each person has lenses that gives them the ability to see someone’s name and overall rating. Her everyday life consists of practicing how to smile and laugh in front of her mirror, and kissing up to people to get them to give her a five star rating, which is the maximum rating. For example, she has an encounter with a women, who works in the same building as she does, where they were both being fake and stalking each other’s accounts on their phone to “have a conversation.” However, in reality they both knew nothing about each other and they couldn’t stand each other, but they mingled to get a five star rating from each other. The episode continues to Lacie’s hinderances in getting her rate score up to get her dream house. Along the way, she contacts her childhood friend, Naomi, who has a high ranking, and ends up getting invited to her wedding and is asked to become her maid of honor, even though she actually hates her, because Naomi slept with her ex-boyfriend. This episode shows the obsession of being accepted in a particular society, through reviews on an app that define a person’s social status. It also shows how technology has destroys relationships between others. The lenses are a representation how Cyborgs will eventually exist and spread to become a part of humans’ daily lives. Here’s the link to the episode on Netflix!

https://www.netflix.com/watch/80104627?trackId=14170289&tctx=0%2C0%2C58d96984-aaf3-4e19-be5f-d64710e70808-17498863%2C5b3e2b16-2e44-4cab-8665-79686e2509c0_18284105X3XX1582560860256%2C5b3e2b16-2e44-4cab-8665-79686e2509c0_ROOT

Ashley Too?

https://www.instagram.com/tv/BxuqhRtAy3M/?igshid=1kzctq5xmw9tq

Link to full show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjjeyHFeSfw&feature=share