Mallory Malesky

After reading this article, I thought about if these ‘robotics’ are a good idea or a bad idea; if simulated animals can really give people a sense of ‘love, affection, or companionship’; and how they effect the mind of a child.

-I don’t think that they are a bad idea. What are they hurting? Right now, nothing. If anything they are helping the elderly people described in the article. I suppose, if our technology became advanced enough, we could create a robot that is capable of doing almost anything a human/animal can… I’m thinking iRobot with Will Smith… But, I don’t see that happening anytime in the near future.
BUT, that topic makes me wonder what the fascination is with re-creating human life? Robots are constantly being developed to simulate real-life actions of humans. (Robotic limbs, hands, fingers…etc) And, Cloning? I don’t want to get started on cloning, but — scientists haven’t even figuered out every little aspect of how the human body/mind works from a physioogical and physcological stand point, so why are they aiming so hard to re-create it using machinery and computer parts?
Ok…Back to the topic.
-Can the robotic animals (Paro, Furby), give people a real sense of love, affection, companionship?
I say the answer is yes in some cases. Although I feel that nothing can compare to a real live animals contributes to someone’s sense of well-being, I think that in the case of elderly people, the robotic creatures can be that companion that the people long for. In the case of an elderly person, perpahs with Alzheimers, the creature would serve the basic purpose of an animal. The elderly person (Who is forgetful and can barely take care of themselves, let alone another LIVING creature) can enojy the benefits of a real animal, with none of the responsibility. If it’s helping their mental condition, as stated in the article, then why not use them? It’s a wonderful idea. As for the younger generation, I guess it’s just a matter of opinion. If you like the little creatures, then go for it? Allergic to pets perhaps? I don’t know…
-How these creatures effect the mind of a child is a broad question that I think requires more in-depth research. I got a Furby for my 12th birthday. Although the little bugger is ADORABLE, I stoped playing with it after about a week becasue the thing was too damn hard to teach anything to. I then hid it in the closet so when ever someone opened the door and the light hit it, it would turn on and purr and coo and say “oooo-eeee-iiiiiii yummmmmmm dudududuuuu”.
On one side, it could be argued, that having a virtual/robotic pet of some sort would give a child a sense of responsibility, perhaps before getting a “real” pet. I think this is a good argument and it has probably been used by many families.
On the other side, one could argue that a child will get a sense of confusion between what is really alive, and what is just a toy. There are 2 quotes from children in the article. Neither of them seem to think it is really ‘alive’ but they know it can inter-act with them, therfore, maybe it’s alive at some level? I think this may just be proper reasoning for a child of a young age…perhaps 8 and under. After that age, they have probably experienced a birth or death in the family, and realize what being alive really is, human or animal. Upon further research, I could find out weather or not my thinking is true, but I don’t think a child would be that confused by a robot.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 18th, 2007 @ 6:57 pm on the category Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.