Sunday, April 19, 2015

Robotics + Art

The presence of robotics in art and culture has been something that I have known for my whole life. Many movies I have seen have the presences of some sort of robotic AI. The movie iRobot for example has robotics playing a large role in the plot of the movie and introduces the three laws of robots, such as a robot cannot harm a human being. (I, Robot)
I, Robot. (Twentieth Century Fox)
Humanoid robotics continues to fascinate popular culture and the scientific community. With the introduction of this robotics comes the concept of artificial intelligence, such as Siri, the automated Apple iPhone assistant. The fear becoming that AI will lead to the elimination of the human race. In fact renowned physicist Stephen Hawking just recently released a statement claiming that if artificial intelligence reaches full capability, the end of human existence would be all but certain (BBC America).
Siri (Apple)
We have also seen artificial intelligence and robotics romanticized in movies such as Big Hero 6, where the lead character fights crime with a robot built by his brother, who also helps the young boy work though the loss of his brother. (Big Hero Six, Disney) In this case the robot is seen as being a good character, however the opposite can also be true in popular films. In 1984, the movie The Terminator came out staring Arnold Schwarzenegger, who himself was a robot and had to fight the evil T-800 (pictured below). In these movie series the main character has to both rely on and fight robots, which provides a juxtaposition of what robots could be both on the good side and on the evil side. (Terminator).
 
Terminator (Artisan)
Compiling all of this information about robotics and AI in the cultural space, it is obvious that human fear of what robots can be is perpetuated in both movies and in books. As robotics and artificial intelligence start to become more advance we may see a rise in the dramatization of evil robots in popular culture. (HowStuffWorks)





References:
I, Robot. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp. :, 2004. Film.

Cellen-Jones, Rory. "Hawking: AI Could End Human Race." BBC News. Web. 20 Apr. 2015. <http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-30290540>.

Big Hero 6. Disney, 2014. Film.

The Terminator. Artisan, 1984. Film.

Kiger, Patrick. "Evil Robots in Popular Culture." HowStuffWorks. HowStuffWorks.com. Web. 20 Apr. 2015. <http://science.howstuffworks.com/10-evil-robots.htm>.

1 comment:

  1. I really like your discussion about the different roles of the robotics that you picked up from several movies. The readers will find your fascination of movie through your clear clarification and categorization of them. Also, your final conclusion regarding to the rise in the dramatization of evil robots in popular culture is also an interesting and reasonable deduction. However, I would suggest that you blog would be more comprehensive if you add more detailed and consistent analysis about why the rise of AI and robotics in human society brings the fear of them from human because people's fear can not simply rises from either the quantity of robotics or some artistic creation of them.

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