Robotophobia & the old-new Human Role (Ask a Futurist)
Written by Travis Kellerman
Consider this issue #1 of FutureSin’s Ask A Futurist series. Michael K. Spencer and Travis Kellerman answer FAQ’s and concerns we hear often on the future roles of humans and machines.
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Q1: Why do we fear robots, AI, and being replaced?
Travis: In the Anthropocene (Era of Humans), every adaptation and change for our species has human intention behind it. Robots are not taking jobs, AI is not replacing us. Certain people and dominant companies have set an intention and are building tools to fulfill it.
Androids aren’t creepy, you simply don’t like the artist’s style.
Machines learn from prior states, from memories of past choice and error. When we insert training data, we are feeding them memory pools with intention attached. They learn from a limited history, like the simplified narratives we teach children about American “revolution” and pioneering. When we need machines to connect previous states (have memories), we set triggers and connect them to the experience, to the lesson of that state. We give them a form of emotion — one purely functional as a query tool.
Sound scary? It’s no scarier than advertising’s effect on young people (all people).
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