Category Module Four Readings

One thing I truly enjoy in science fiction is the complexity of the relationships between artificial intelligence and humans. Often times with these types of science fiction stories, there is this unique bond between humans and the robots/androids that they create…. Continue Reading →

It seems as though an androids and humans walk a very fine line, and androids and robots have a distinction that I had not always been aware of. The word robot itself comes from the Czech word for slave. Yet… Continue Reading →

Perhaps this post bleeds into Module Five’s readings, but I’ve been thinking back to our class discussion on why the androids must always go rogue and how this necessity might stem from our own struggles with perceiving ourselves dually as… Continue Reading →

With the development of the technology, it’s likely that robots or Androids will be more and more human-like.  They will possess better cognition or show clear emotions.  For example, Japan has developed an Android that is able to show different… Continue Reading →

What makes an android so interesting is the way in which it blurs the line between human and machine. If a robot bleeds, is it alive? If a man cannot feel, is he still human? The line is blurred beyond… Continue Reading →

I have been increasingly realizing that the blasé, caustic way in which male SF writers write female characters might turn me away from the genre as a whole. Or at least, if I read SF on my own, I will only… Continue Reading →

The worlds we live in is one marked by prodigious growth. Concepts portrayed in science fiction stories are becoming realized. But while humanity rushes towards the creation of functioning artificial intelligence, our fiction reminds us of potential consequences. Do Androids Dream… Continue Reading →

I found what Zoe wrote about AI “emotion” really interesting, especially the claim that the expression of emotion in AI suggests that emotion is learned. I definitely agree that emotion is at least in part learned, and that AI “emotion” is a clever… Continue Reading →

In a world focused on the constant improvement of artificial intelligence, it is by no means impossible to say that perhaps one day, AI will be more intelligent than humans. Just recently, there has been a breakthrough whereby Google researchers… Continue Reading →

One specific discussion topic from class this week has stayed in my thoughts… In Artificial Intelligence computers such as Multivac and HAL 9000, we see portrayals of emotion. We see in Multivac a tendency towards gullibility and naivety, and we… Continue Reading →

The biggest thing that stood out for me while reading “Fondly Fahrenheit” by Alfred Bester was the strange narration. The story often switched between third person omniscient and first person (with the exception of the dialogue). Furthermore, there were abrupt… Continue Reading →

Humans are already capable of creating intelligent life. Children may not always be perfect but they are a miracle nonetheless. The proud perfectionism that drives man to create something better feels of off putting to me. The issue with many… Continue Reading →

As someone heavily interested in the field of Artificial Intelligence, I found Asimov’s “The Life and Times of Multivac” to be an eerily accurate depiction of what may likely happen should the dream of a General Artificial Intelligence be realized…. Continue Reading →

Like many of Philip K. Dick’s novels, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, deals with characters who believe something about the world they live in, only to find out that they are not completely correct. In this book’s case, this… Continue Reading →

What made me love anthropology is its inherent need to learn about all different spectrums of human life, and what connects humans together as well as what makes humans unique. Through physical anthropology, we learn about how millions of years… Continue Reading →