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Robotic Systems

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Abstract

Here we continue discussion on robotic systems and begin by considering claims that are frequently being made in relation to the possibility of developing technologies able to exhibit (rather than simulate) consciousness. Such claims are perhaps best evaluated by focusing on the nature of consciousness rather than on technological issues. With this in mind it quickly becomes evident that we have extremely little understanding of the profundity, complexity, and beauty of consciousness. When we pose questions such as ‘how do we experience an experience’ (of, for example, tasting a comestible, or the visual panorama of nature in springtime), or alternatively probe the mystery of ‘what am I’, we soon run into profound difficulties. Discussion presented offers no answers, but will hopefully provide an insight into a really fascinating area of study. The intention is to promote debate (which at times may be controversial) and demonstrate that claims regarding the possibility of developing conscious robots are at the very least to be considered with the greatest caution. In this chapter we also briefly examine autonomous motor vehicles and so-called humanoids. In addition we revisit previous discussion concerning aspects of human nature, matters concerning freewill, and question why an intelligent species would seek (with such enthusiasm) to direct its talents towards the development of robotic systems which have the potential to greatly disrupt the species activities and run the risk of becoming subservient to the species’ own creation.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Blundell, Q., ‘April Shower’ in ‘Collected Works’ (2020).

  2. 2.

    Blundell, Q., ‘Reality’, in ‘Collected Works’ (2020).

  3. 3.

    Interestingly, in relation to homogenising the student educational experience, long-standing colleagues often comment on the fact that rule-based processes are frequently promoted, established, and monitored by staff who seldom (if ever) work with, or teach, students and who are therefore least well-placed to undertake this type of activity!

  4. 4.

    Observation by the author.

  5. 5.

    Jastrow (1978)—founding director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies.

  6. 6.

    It is interesting to note the remarkable power of our sense of smell in evoking memories. For example, a particular and quite unexpected smell can instantaneously evoke a long-forgotten memory with great clarity.

  7. 7.

    The term ‘Interactionist dualism’ refers to the notion that the body and immaterial soul act upon each other.

  8. 8.

    How can something we do not see exist? At least since the Copernican revolution, humans should be prepared to admit their non-centrality to the makeup of the universe. Yet each time people learn about it in a new context, many get confused or surprised. There is no reason that the matter we see should be the only type of matter there is.’ (Randall 2018) In fact this quotation doesn’t relate to ‘soul-stuff’ but rather to the existence of Dark Matter…

  9. 9.

    But now that I wanted to devote myself solely to the search for truth, I thought I needed to do the exact opposite - to reject as if it were absolutely false everything regarding which I could imagine the least doubt, so as to see whether this left me with anything entirely indubitable to believe. Thus, I chose to suppose that nothing was such as our senses led us to imagine, because our senses sometimes deceive us. Also, I rejected as unsound all the arguments I had previously taken as demonstrative proofs, because some men make mistakes in reasoning, even in the simplest questions in geometry, and commit logical fallacies; and I judged that I was as open to this as anyone else. Lastly, I decided to pretend that everything that had ever entered my mind was no more true than the illusions of my dreams, because all the mental states we are in while awake can also occur while we sleep ·and dream·, without having any truth in them. But no sooner had I embarked on this project than I noticed that while I was trying in this way to think everything to be false it had to be the case that I, who was thinking this, was something. And observing that this truth I am thinking, therefore I exist was so firm and sure that not even the most extravagant suppositions of the skeptics could shake it, I decided that I could accept it without scruple as the first principle of the philosophy I was seeking. Then I looked carefully into what I was. I saw that while I could pretend that I had no body and that there was no world and no place for me to be in, I still couldn’t pretend that I didn’t exist. I saw on the contrary that from the mere fact that I thought about doubting the truth of other things, it followed quite evidently and certainly that I existed; whereas if I had merely stopped thinking altogether, even if everything else I had ever imagined had been true, I ·would have had no reason to believe that I existed. This taught me that I was a substance whose whole essence or nature is simply to think, and which doesn’t need any place, or depend on any material thing, in order to exist. Accordingly this me - this soul that makes me what I am - is entirely distinct from the body, is easier to know than the body, and would still be just what it is even if the body didn’t exist.’ (Descartes 1637)

  10. 10.

    Attributed to George Berkeley (1685–1753).

  11. 11.

    In general terms discussion of this event tends to incorporate a surprising bias. Each point made in scripture is often assumed to be fully accurate and is mapped to a possible physical explanation which supports the epilepsy hypothesis. Descriptive text is assumed to exhibit great accuracy—but this assumption is applied in a narrow rather than in an holistic way. As a result research appears to adopt a ‘pick and mix’ approach so as to substantiate the hypothesis without due consideration of a broader framework.

  12. 12.

    Here, and in this context, we use the terms ‘simulation’ and ‘emulation’ interchangeably.

  13. 13.

    Attributed to Jeremy Kagan.

  14. 14.

    Attributed to Albert Einstein (1879–1955).

  15. 15.

    It appears that the use of the term ‘robot’ dates back to the first half of the 19th century, and was employed in the context of forced labour and slavery.

  16. 16.

    Attributed to Joseph Stalin (1878–1953).

  17. 17.

    Blundell, Q., ‘The Old Lady at the Window’ in ‘Collected Works’ (2020).

  18. 18.

    Dickens (1850).

  19. 19.

    Klein et al. (2016).

  20. 20.

    Attributed to Tesla CEO Elon Musk and quoted in Morris (2017).

  21. 21.

    In ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’, George Orwell (1949) describes an environment which was continually in a state of flux as a result of war endless conflict: ‘Since about that time, war had been literally continuous, though strictly speaking it had not always been the same war….The enemy of the moment always represented absolute evil, and it followed that any past or future agreement with him was impossible.’ This fight against evil was used to justify government policy and as a means of public distraction. For example: ‘Bad news coming, thought Winston. And sure enough, following on a gory description of the annihilation of a Eurasian army, with stupendous figures of killed and prisoners, came the announcement that, as from next week, the chocolate ration would be reduced from thirty grammes to twenty.

  22. 22.

    Attributed to Simon Head.

  23. 23.

    Approximate figures cite an annual average of 40,000 traffic related deaths in the U.S. and 1.25 million globally (Hong 2018).

  24. 24.

    During the initial introduction of cars in the UK, in 1896 Bridge Driscoll was the first person to be killed, having been hit by a car which had a top speed of 8 mph. However this did not impact on the pace of progress and by 1903 the speed limit was raised to 20 mph. (Robbins 2016)

  25. 25.

    In the case that vehicles don’t simply act as autonomous agents but employ inter-vehicular communication to mediate their manoeuvres, then when an accident occurs matters may become somewhat more complex. Such communication will be crucial in supporting efficient vehicle movement in dense (and complex) traffic situations.

  26. 26.

    Murphy (2017).

  27. 27.

    Dickens (1850).

  28. 28.

    Generally attributed to The Nazi Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels.

  29. 29.

    Devised by Earl Wiener (1933–2013).

  30. 30.

    Melvern (2007).

  31. 31.

    It is interesting (although somewhat disconcerting) to consider whether the barbaric acts which are being perpetrated against girls and women in various countries would be tolerated by the international community if the victims were of other ethnicities. The response is one that perhaps also suggests that we aren’t living in a true age of enlightenment.

  32. 32.

    In order to better understand the genocide in Rwanda, it’s necessary to gain an insight into its origins. Epstein (2017), Power (2001) and Melvern et al. (2004) provide useful background information. For our present purposes it is sufficient to note that whilst the international community made no effective efforts to stop the genocide, key players did participate in creating conditions for its occurrence. This includes Belgium (the former colonial power which reinforced differences between the Hutu and Tutsi by originally instigating a ‘divide and rule’ approach), the UK, U.S. and France. For example: ‘US officials knew that Museveni [the Ugandan president] was not honouring his promise to court martial RPF leaders [Rwandan Patriotic Front—Tutsi exiles armed and trained by Uganda]. The US was monitoring Ugandan weapons shipment to the RPF in 1992, but instead of punishing Museveni, western donors including the US doubled aid to his government and allowed defence spending to balloon to 48% of Uganda’s budget…In 1991, Uganda purchased 10 times more US weapons than in the preceding 40 years combined.’ (Epstein 2017) As with the U.S., British interests were in Uganda—not Rwanda.

  33. 33.

    Registration was originally instigated by the colonial power (Belgium) prior to Rwandan independence: ‘…identity cards made it virtually impossible for Hutus to become Tutsis, and allowed the Belgians to perfect the administration of an apartheid system that perpetuated the myth of Tutsi superiority’ (Gourevitch 1995).

  34. 34.

    This is not strictly accurate as the S.S. St. Louis sailed from Germany in 1939 (i.e. before the Holocaust was initiated). However, the analogy does retain relevance. The ship carried more than 900 fare paying Jews who were fleeing from persecution to Cuba, from where it was assumed they would be able to gain entry to the U.S. In the event they were not permitted to disembark. As a result, the Captain took his passengers to Florida but the American authorities also refused to take in the refugees—despite being fully aware of the persecution which was occurring in Germany. With options exhausted, the passengers returned to Europe. Although some gained entry into the UK, 254 were eventually killed. (See for example, Lanchin 2014.)

  35. 35.

    Weizenbaum (1976).

  36. 36.

    Langewiesche (2014)

  37. 37.

    McKendrick (2018).

  38. 38.

    If we were to ask, ‘How is there a blade of grass?’, the answer would be even more elusive.

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Blundell, B.G. (2020). Robotic Systems. In: Ethics in Computing, Science, and Engineering. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-27126-8_8

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